‘Yes.’ ‘Hey, your nose has started bleeding again.’ ‘It’ll stop in a minute.’ 268 PIT~R F. HAMILTON Kendric must’ve found out about Philip Evans’s NN core. He would be bound to question Katerina about every aspect of her relationship with Julia, and that includes her time at Wilholin. She told him about the NN core. There is no mole, never has been.’ ‘So how did Kendric get hold of the Zanthus security monitor programs?’ ‘A topnotch solo hotrod burnt into Walshaw’s cores. Kendnc could afford it.’ She finished spraying on the dermal seal, and inspected his hand. ‘But what about the buyout?’ ‘Yeah,’ he admitted. ‘I still don’t understand that, But the blitz was definitely a vengeance act. Katenina proves that; she’s the link, the common factor. God, Eleanor, you wouldn’t believe what he’s done to that poor kid. Tell you, she’s a virtual cyborg, no messing.’ He flexed his fingers gingerly, watching the dermal-seal stretch over his knuckles. ‘Has he drugged her?’ she asked. ‘Sort of. That’s something else we’ll have to sort out when this is finished. Christ, as if we didn’t have enough to do identifying Wolf and the remaining hotrods.’ ‘You know, if you wanted to flush some compromising evidence out of Kendric’s brain you should’ve asked hint how much the blitz had cost him. Then you’d have seen the guilt, clear-cut and irrefutable. I’ll have to bind that forefinger.’ ‘Bugger. Next time I’ll take you along. Someone who can titink straight.’ Her heart fell. ‘Oh, Greg, you’re not thinking of going back there are you? Wasn’t this enough?’ ‘No, I’m not marching up to confront Kendric again; I’ve learned my lesson. From now on the macho routine is all down to Morgan Waishaw and his hardliners. Hopefully, all I have to do is wait for Royan to backtrack Wolf’s payments to O’Donal, find out who the hell he is. Then we can start establishing how Wolf is plugged in with Kendric. The proof’s there, somewhere, like you said, another intermediary between Wolf and Kendric, maybe two. But I’m convinced it’s him at the end of the trail. Does that sound paranoid to you?’ MINDSYAR RISING 269 ‘No, I believe your intuition works; and like you say, having Katerina on his yacht explains how he knew about the NN core.’ She consulted the Event Horizon terminal. The first-aid kit’s diagnostic was plugged into it, the cube showing a white-shadow schematic of Greg’s body. His pain points glowed a mild amber; she’d treated all of them. He was relaxed now, growing drowsy from the general tranquilizer she’d given hun earlier. She held open his right eyelid, shining the pencil light directly on the pupil, then away, watching the dilation. The terminal said it was within acceptable limits. ‘Have you been overdoing the gland?’ ‘Used it a bit, nothing much.’ She thought he sounded defensive. Not that she could even begin to give a qualified opinion on neurohormone abuse. Just a feeling, though; he appeared enervated, more than the cuts and sprains could account for. Why did men always try and disguise their weaknesses? ‘I think you might be slightly con-cussed. A hospital check-up wouldn’t hurt.’ ‘No need to bother them. I’ll spend tomorrow resting.’ ‘Promise?’ ‘All that’s scheduled is a trip to Wilholm Manor to check out Gabriel’s prediction of a second attack against the NN core.’ She peeled the diagnostic pick-up from the nape of his neck where it was interfacing with his cortical node and coiled up the fibre-optic lead. The compact unit slotted neatly into the moulded foam of the first-aid kit; a well-worn aluminium case, Army green with a big red cross painted on. Surplus to requirements, Greg had told her. There was a comprehensive range of dressings and medicine inside, all top quality. She’d thought he was a hypochondriac when she first saw it. ‘That’s all right then,’ she said, ‘providing your new billionaire girlfriend doesn’t excite you too much.’ ‘Please! Give me a break.’ ‘Oh, I almost forgot. Dr Ranasfari called this morning, charming man, left a message for you.’ She licked her lips at the memory. ‘He made a pass at me.’ ‘Shit.’ 270 PITIR P. HAMILTON ‘Greg!’ ‘Sorry. You’re kidding. Ranasfari? He made a pass at you? Never.’ ‘He did. Men have been known to.’ ‘Impossible, my dear. Ranasfari doesn’t like people, any people. We’re not rationally precise data packages.’ ‘Don’t be so bitchy, or are you just jealous?’ ‘Neither, simply observant. So what did the good doctor want to tell me?’ ‘There was definitely an outlaw instruction beamed up to the Merlin, shutting it down. Seven seconds are missing from the uplink’s log, an hour before the shutdown. He said it was a very sophisticated interruption. They probably wouldn’t have spotted it if you hadn’t told them to search for it. They’re reviewing the Institute’s ‘ware memory cores to see if someone snatched the Merlin codes. But so far they haven’t found any trace of a breach. He says whoever did it must be the best hotrod in existence, covering their tracks like that. The Institute ‘ware has premier-grade data-guardian programs, the security programmers thought they were unbreakable.’ Greg was staring at her, confusion and disbelief tugging at his face. Lost. ‘Something wrong?’ ‘Ranasfari can’t have said that. It doesn’t fit.’ Seeing him like this, exhausted, wounded, and cripplingly despondent she felt an overwhelming surge of affection for him. The case had been taxing him; punished by the gland, driven by his own ruthless brand of determination, beaten up by Kendric’s bastards. Maxed out. All she wanted to do was help, ease the burden. If only he didn’t have this stupid code of his, always giving a hundred per cent. It was too much of him. ‘Well, Ranasfari did say it. And it’s time you were in bed, Greg Mandel.’ ‘No, no, you don’t understand. The blitz was a vengeance attack.’ ‘Yes, you said. You proved Kendric ordered it.’ ‘Yeah, well, sort of.’ ‘The Merlin,’ she said, beginning to understand. ‘If the Merlin was deliberately sabotaged,’ he said, ‘then the blitz was part of a kombinate spoiler operation.’ MINDSTAR RISING 271 ‘You are concussed. There’s nothing to say the Merlin shutdown couldn’t be vengeance, too. Kendric wanting to wipe Philip Evans, and damage Event Horizon at the same time by undermining confidence in the giga-conductor cells. Hit Julia from both sides at once. After all, we know he’s already used a top-grade hotrod against Event Horizon to pull the security monitors. He probably used the same hotrod to shut down the Merlin,’ ‘Oh, yeah, right.’ It was obvious he wasn’t convinced. She began to speak with slow deliberation, voicing her thoughts almost as they formed. ‘The motive for launching the blitz depends on whether Kendric knew of Philip Evans’s NN core. If he did, it was him out for vengeance; if not, it was a kombinate spoiler. Right?’ ‘That’s about the size of it.’ ‘Good. So, how bright is Katerina?’ ‘What?’ ‘Don’t you see? It all hangs on her, whether or not she knew about the NN core. And from what you’ve told me about her before she met Kendric, she sounds like the all-time champion bimbo. Could she have worked out what was going down at Wilholm?’ His eyes closed, face pained. ‘Dunno. She had a good education.’ ‘Means nothing. Who would know if she’s got enough brains?’ ‘Julia, I suppose. Certainly poor old Adrian. I knew it would happen, that she’d dump him. Should’ve warned him, given him the benefit. He wouldn’t have listened.’ Eleanor ignored his ramblings. Knowing the sense of excitement derived from solving human intricacies. Finally appreciating how Greg could become so wrapped up in his cases. There was a certain addictive quality to unravelling the carefully crafted deceits of other people, it was a form of conquest, outsmarting them. ‘Then you’ll just have to ask Julia. But not today, I think.’ CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT W ilholm’s lawn sprinklers were working at full strength, their long white plumes adding a faint coppery tang to the dry pollen-clogged air. Julia ran down the garden path, giggling wildly, trying to dodge the spray shooting out of the rotating nozzles. The cotton of her emerald-green dress was already damp. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Adrian had almost caught up. A shriek, a last triumphant burst of speed from her legs, and she reached the gravel drive ahead of him. OtherEyes Access Request. Adrian yelled behind her, cursing, and she turned, cracking up at the sight of him caught full square in one of the foamy jets. He slopped on to the gravel trailing dark footprints. ‘I’m bloody drenched,’ he wailed, laughing with her. He was too; T-shirt and tennis shorts clinging to his skin. She draped her arms round his neck, kissing him exuberantly. ‘My very own Mr Wet T-shirt.’ The giggles set in again, unstoppable. OtherEyes Priority Access Request. His hands found her rump, squeezing with interest. ‘Do we have enough time before he gets here?’ His breath was hot in her ear. He’d begun to nuzzle her neck, aiming for that place he’d found which was exceptionally ticklish. She let out a heartfelt sigh, squirming in his arms as his tongue licked below her ear. ‘Not this morning. Busy.’ ‘Afternoon?’ She nodded eagerly. Adrian was insatiable. Wonderfully, fabulously insatiable. Alaka had been disappointed by the non-appearance of their star guest at most of the functions after Friday night. But she didn’t give a flying fig about that. This was love. And Adrian felt the same ahout her, so enraptured he’d come back to Wilholin with her on Sunday night. MINOSTAR RI$ING 273 ‘I’m afraid to let you out of my sight,’ he’d said. ‘I can hardly believe a girl like you would even look at someone like me.’ So she did her best to convince him, realizing his every wicked fantasy on her big apricot silk bed, and in the jacuzzi, the shower, dresser chair, deep-pile rug. And Adrian could be very wicked indeed. Her grandfather hadn’t said anything about Adrian coming to stay, not a peep. She hoped that meant he’d finally accepted her as an equal. Part of his kindness before, she knew now, had been the type a teacher shows a gifted pupil. That she could be groomed to manage Event Horizon was his driving concern. She forgave him that. Right now she could forgive anybody anything. OtherEyes Access Request: Please Juliet. ‘All afternoon,’ Adrian growled insistently. ‘Absolutely.’ He was going back to the college in the evening, which would give them a solid six hours to practice yet more of that rapturous sex. Then there was next weekend to look forward to. Thank the Lord Cambridge wasn’t far away. Although she would’ve travelled to Tasmania for him. Julia heard the sound of tyres on the drive, and began to disentangle herself. Suddenly wondering what the hell she must look like; hair tangled, front of her dress damp from where she’d pressed against Adrian, cheeks flushed, and grinning like a madwoman. Greg would hardly need his empathy to see what she’d been getting up to. Adrian kept hold of her hand as the little Duo pulled up in front of the portico. The car’s arrival frightened Wilholm’s flock of snow-white doves into flight above her. Open Channel to NN Core. Load OtherEyes, Limiter# Three. Sight and hearing only, so her grandfather wouldn’t be able to sense her racing heart, nor experience Adrian’s adventurous hands. Thank you so very much, Philip Evans said. So sorry to trouble you. In case it’s of the remotest interest, we think the Trojan program which Gabriel predicted has been loaded into the Event Horizon datanef. There was a highly sophist! 274 PUTIRF. HAMILTON cated code melt in our Doncaster silicon-fibre plant ‘ware two minutes ago; they are scheduled to squirt their production data to me in another five minutes. Julia suddenly hated the real world for intruding on her private happiness, it seemed to delight in conspiring to reduce her time with Adrian – Greg’s visit, unseen hackers. Why couldn’t they leave her alone? Petty grubbing manipulators, all of them, pissing in the wind. They weren’t going to alter society, nor bankrupt Event Horizon, nor make the Sun revolve around the Earth, turn water into wine. The sum total of their activities was so near to zero as to be derisory. People were so bloody stupid, and insensitive; animals that’d learnt how to wear clothes. Her arm tightened instinctively around Adrian. He didn’t know how much of a comfort he was. Don’t be so sarcastic, Grandpa, it’s very unbecoming. Have Waishaw’s security programmers managed to backtrack? Not yet. Total surprise. Give them some credit, Juliet, that melt was hard to spot. If they’d written a decent guardian program in the first place there wouldn’t have been a melt through. Her grandfather answered with a reproachful silence. Surprising what could be read from emptiness. Greg climbed out of the Duo. Julia let out an involuntary gasp. His left eye was swollen and black, heavily bruised; a moulded white surgical dressing covered his nose; his hands seemed to be all blue dermal membrane; he was limping. Christ! ‘What happened?!’ she demanded anxiously. He smiled heavily. ‘I had a little chat with your friend, Kendric di Girolazno.’ ‘My God! He did this to you?’ ‘His bodyguards.’ ‘Oh, Greg. You shouldn’t even be out of bed. Come along with you, out of this hot sun.’ Greg shrugged. ‘Not as bad as it looks.’ His eyes were fixed MINORTAR RISING 275 on Adrian. Accusing, Julia thought, certainly not indifferent. My God, could he be jealous? Adrian stirred uncomfortably under the stare, gripping her hand that little bit tighter. ‘Adrian, isn’t it?’ Greg asked. ‘Yes, sir.’ They reminded her of two stags, scraping hoofs before they locked antlers. Disturbing to think she might be the cause, but then again it didn’t exactly hurt her ego. Greg’s cut lips quirked slightly, breaking the spell. ‘The name’s Greg. Nice to see you again.’ Adrian relaxed a little at her side. She gave him a huge sunny smile. ‘This conference won’t take long, darling. Would you see to Tobias, I’ve been neglecting him shockingly.’ ‘Sure thing.’ He pecked her cheek and gave Greg a quick curious glance before heading off towards the stables. Another thing about him, he understood the way Event Horizon business dominated her life, and made allowance, never making unreasonable demands. There weren’t many who’d do that. He was going to make a smashing doctor with that kind of sympathy. ‘Nice lad,’ Greg offered as they reached the shade of the portico. There was sweat on his forehead. She slipped her arm into his, steadying his walk; glad to have someone trustworthy to confide in. ‘Nice? Greg, he’s gorgeous. And you should see him with his shirt off. Totally hunky!’ ‘Lucky Adrian.’ Doncaster is squirting, now! Julia nearly groaned aloud. How could she have forgotten about Grandpa? He would’ve heard every word. That bloody OtherEyes was going to have to be rewritten again. Greg was looking at her speculatively. A blush was rising up her cheeks. * 276 PETER P. HAMILTON Morgan Walshaw was waiting for them in the study. He did a double take at Greg’s injuries, frowning, then signalled them to sit. Julia pulled out her chair at the head of the table. The dark polished surface in front of her was cluttered with gear modules and cubes. Morgan Waishaw was devouring information from three cubes fed by an elaborate-looking customized terminal. Next to her grandfather’s NN core was a Commodore bioware number cruncher, a maroon hexagonal block fifty centimetres across and twelve high. A thick bundle of fibre-optic cables linked it to the study’s communication consoles. Her grandfather called it junior; he’d unplugged his NN core from Event Horizon’s datanet, plugging in the Commodore as a replacement. It’d been loaded with a Turing personality responses program; and he’d spent the last three days reformatting it to shuffle Event Horizon’s data squirts in a routine fashion. ‘Will you look at that.’ Her grandfather’s gruff voice rumbled around the study. The biggest cube on the table was displaying a schematic of the Commodore’s databuses, a nightmare MObius topology of fine turquoise lines binding together a miniature globular cluster of sparkling jade stars. A cadaverous pink stain had begun to wash through the image, spreading down the lines and branching at every star, tainting everything in its path. ‘Christ, the bugger’s expansion rate is phenomenal. About fifth power,’ the directionless voice exclaimed. The cube showed an unhealthy homogenous pink blob. ‘Six seconds from reception to total domination. Incredible. Whoever they are, they’re serious. I would never have been able to stop it if it’d got into the NN core. That’s all down to Gabriel. Where is she, Greg?’ ‘Her psi.function takes a lot out of her. She’s at home recuperating.’ ‘Well, try and get her back here. I want to thaok her personally.’ If Greg was aware of the irony he didn’t show it. ‘I’ll tell her.’ MINDSTAR RISING 277 ‘So. Kendric had you roughed up, did he, boy?’ ‘My fault. I confronted him.’ ‘Why?’ Julia asked. ‘Taking a short cut. I wanted to establish that Kendric was the one who paid Wolf.’ ‘Well, of course he is,’ she exclaimed. Greg shook his head gingerly. ‘No. That’s the problem. Kendric isn’t directly behind the blitz. Not that I could prove, anyway. My intuition says he’s involved in some way, though.’ ‘Well, there you are then,’ she said. ‘I wanted something a little more concrete.’ ‘What for?’ She saw Greg and Waishaw exchange an edgy glance. It was so bloody annoying. Why couldn’t they speak in front of her? ‘Concrete proof for concrete action,’ Waishaw said quietly. ‘Oh.’ She put her hands flat on the table, studying the nails intently. ‘It wasn’t a complete waste of time,’ Greg said. ‘I think I can prove Kendric does know about the NN core.’ ‘Ah!’ Philip said triumphantly. Julia suddenly realized Greg was staring right at her. ‘Katerina Cawthorp is living with Kendric on his yacht,’ Greg said. ‘Still?’ Julia blurted. ‘You knew about it?’ ‘I knew she’d gone off with him, I was there when it happened. I thought Kendric was another of her one-night stands. Kats is like that, you see. Bit of a bed-hopper.’ ‘What I’d like to know is whether or not she’s bright enough to work out that your grandfather was planning to translocate his memories into the NN core,’ Greg said. ‘She was here for a few days. The opportunity exists.’ ‘A week;’ Julia stared pensively at the leather-bound books on the wall shelving, not bothering to cut in the processor node. Remembering all those years she and Kats had spent together at school. Only time’s perspective gave them a totally different slant, like an old play whose plot she’d forgotten. 278 PETER F. HAMILTON They’d seemed like great days while they were happening, insufferably tedious now. ‘Kats never paid any attention to classes, too busy with boys,’ she said slowly, reluctant to condemn. ‘But no, she’s not stupid. It’s just that I find it hard to believe Kats would bother listening to idle business chatter, let alone interpret it.’ ‘She wouldn’t have to interpret it, Kendric would do that for himself,’ Greg said. ‘I’m sure I never mentioned the NN core project in front of her. I wouldn’t have, there’d be no point, science and finance simply don’t fit into her world view. And Grandpa and I certainly never discussed it at meals.’ ‘She may have overheard it being mentioned. There’s a certain thrill in eavesdropping on the conversations of someone as powerful as your grandfather. Even if she couldn’t make sense of it at the time she might remember what was said.’ ‘True enough,’ said Walshaw. ‘Though the Kendric connection is still circumstantial.’ ‘Don’t be obtuse, Morgan,’ Julia said. After all Greg had gone through he didn’t deserve disparaging observations. ‘Of course Kendric’s guilty, he reeks of it.’ ‘I wasn’t disagreeing,’ the security chief said mildly. ‘It is the degree of Kendric’s involvement which seems to be unresolved.’ ‘Not the exact degree, no,’ Greg said. ‘But he’s in deep, no messing. And I think we can rule out a mole now we know about Katerina.’ He glanced at Walshaw for confirmation. ‘Yes.’ ‘OK, that just leaves the question of why Kendric allowed Julia to buy him out. I still don’t understand that, and it bothers me. We know he’s in trouble with the family over the money he withdrew from Event Horizon’s backing consortium, and he’s working on some deals to try and fill the gap, provide the house with an equal return. That’s got to be the key, these deals of his, And they’re tied up with you somevhere.’ He shot Julia a fast glance. She knew he meant his intuition again. It gave her a creepy ‘celing, the way his suspicions about the spoiler had turned MINDSTAR RISING 279 out to be true. Now Kendric was making unknown deals. ‘Raw materials?’ Waishaw suggested. ‘Is he buying up the options on the compounds that go into the giga-conductor?’ ‘No,’ said Philip. ‘There aren’t any really rare minerals involved in any case. And I’ve made quite sure we have a safeguarded stockpile of the chemicals we use. That’s an elementary precaution, I did that even before we filed the patent.’ Greg rubbed the dressing on his nose with a forefinger. ‘Tell you, my own impression is that Kendric has made some sort of alliance.’ ‘With who?’ Julia asked. He gave her a wan smile. ‘Don’t know. Someone, some organization, who would benefit from having your grandfather wiped. Kendric is an influence peddler, you see. Once he established that Philip Evans’s memories were stored in the NN core, he could barter the information in exchange for an investment opportunity that’d give the family house money a return equal to the Event Horizon backing consortium. Get someone else to do his dirty work for him, and make a profit at the same time. That’s his style.’ ‘A kombinate?’ ‘No, I never believed it was a kombinate behind the blitz, a month-long delay in introducing the giga-conductor would be a nonsense when you consider their cyber-factories would have to be totally rebuilt to produce the stuff.’ ‘What, then?’ ‘Sorry, I can’t tell you. That’s just the feeling I get out of all this.’ He shrugged. ‘Kendric definitely has some sort of scheme in mind, the buyout is proof of that, as well as his hatred for you.’ ‘Mutual,’ Julia said automatically. ‘I know.’ And the way he said it made her glance at him, he’d sounded disapproving. ‘What about this Wolf bloke,’ Philip said. ‘He’s had two goes at me now. Seems to me, you ought to be concentrating on him, boy.’ ‘I was coming to that. My contact has backtracked PETER P. HAMILTON O’Donal’s payments; he squirted Wolf’s identity to me this morning.’ ‘May we know the name?’ Walshaw asked. ‘Charles Ellis. Currently residing at the Castlewood condominium, New Eastfield, Peterborough.’ She couldn’t help the little start of interest. ‘I know that place. Uncle Horace lives there, it’s not far from the marina. That proves Ellis is connected to Kendric, doesn’t it?’ ‘Not necessarily. It’s a perfectly logical place for someone that rich to gravitate to. Although I admit it’s pushing coincidence a long way.’ ‘Rich?’ Walshaw enquired. ‘What is he, a tekmerc?’ ‘Apparently not,’ said Greg. ‘According to my contact Ellis is a data fence. He normally goes under the handle Medeor. Wolf is a totally new venture for him.’ ‘What do you propose as your next step?’ Waishaw asked. His grey eyes had narrowed, contemplating Greg with reserved, vagtiely threatening preoccupation. ‘Pay Charles Ellis a visit. He’s the last link, the connection between the team of hotrods who ran the blitz and whoever paid for it.’ ‘Seeing as how you’re so close I’d like to send one of my operatives along with you,’ Walshaw said. ‘I know you prefer to work independently, and I respect that. But the stakes are mounting.’ ‘I wasn’t going to object,’ Greg said. ‘Just make sure he’s briefed not to interrupt.’ ‘He won’t.’ ‘One more thing, have you had any luck with the analysis of Tentimes’ burns?’ Greg asked. ‘If you mean is there a single beneficiary, then the answer is no.’ Walshaw paused, looking concerned. ‘But seven manufacturing companies have gone under because of O’Donal; and some of the financials are on a. sticky wicket, although they’ll never admit a thing. And now we know what to look for, the researchers have spotted several similar victims outside O’Donal’s list. It looks like all eight of Wolf’s hotrods are very active; they’ve caused a lot of damage in the last year. It prompts the question why?’ MINDSTAR RISING 281 ‘Yes,’ said Philip. ‘If that kind of disturbance is being repeated by others like him I’d hate to think of the long-term consequences. ‘Perhaps that’s Wolf’s goal,’ Greg said. ‘Trying to sabotage Event Horizon’s long-term prospects.’ ‘I don’t mean just us, boy. I’ve run my own analysis on the burns and their fallout. They’re totally indiscriminate. If that sort of thing isn’t halted soon it’ll add at least another couple of points to inflation, and that’s already running too high as it is. A further rise would blow the Chancellor’s budget to pieces.’ ‘You mean even Kendric would suffer?’ ‘Everybody suffers,’ Walshaw said bluntly. ‘Could it be another government? If England’s industrial output goes down, who’d step in to make up the shortfall?’ ‘Just about everybody,’ Philip concluded miserably. ‘Bloody Pacific Rim would be the biggest beneficiaries, of course.’ Julia saw the connection without having to kick in her processor nodes. ‘A finance house,’ she said firmly. Both men looked at her. ‘A finance house would benefit from a change of interest rates, if they knew for sure it would happen.’ ‘That’s right, they would. Good girl, Juliet.’ ‘The di Girolamo house?’ Walshaw mused. ‘Why worry?’ she said brightly. ‘Greg can do his wordassociation thing with Ellis to find out the details. You’ll have it all solved for us by tonight, Greg, won’t you?’ Greg sat back in his chair, a tired smile playing over his battered face. ‘How much do you want to bet on that?’ CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE G reg kept a cautionary eye on Julia as she walked out to the car with him. There was a confidence about her which had been absent before; she’d always had poise, but it’d been stilted and formal. This was a natural grace. No doubt Adrian had a lot to do with it. The kind of stability he offered putting her at ease with other people. Adrian hadn’t changed all her habits, though. He thought her emerald broderie anglaise dress was something Maid Marion would’ve been perfectly at home in; it had puffball cap sleeves, a lace-up bodice and a skirt hem riding several centimetres above her knees. Nice legs. The girl’s clothes sense was the weirdest, nobody else her age wore anything remotely similar. But, of course, she wasn’t like anybody else her own age. Just wanted to be. She lifted the front door’s iron latch for him, eager to please. Sparrows, goldfinches, and a couple of hoopoes squabbled underneath the sprinklers’ cascade, pecking at the grass for worms that’d risen in the artificial rain. The direct sunlight set off an uncomfortable itch on Greg’s face and hands. ‘Hop in,’ he said, as he blipped the Duo doors, ‘I’ve got something to say to you.’ Her face lit up with mischief. ‘Greg, really! And Adrian so close by.’ He sensed that ghostly extraneous thought current leave her mind with lighming swiftness. Her own thoughts were a fast-paced mixture of excitement and contentment. Julia was one happy girl. He flicked the jammer on, screening the Duo’s interior from the manor’s security surveillance sensors. ‘Julia.’ Her expression dropped at his tone. ‘What?’ ‘Katerina.’ ‘Oh, her. What about her?’ ‘I’m going to be very nice to you, and I’m not going to put you over my knee and give you a damn good wallop. Although MINDSTAR RISING 283 God knows you deserve it, or worse, after what you’ve done.’ ‘What?’ She was spluttering, hauteur and outrage gathering within her mind. ‘Your grandfather was quite right about you. You’re a sciolistic; you know the moves, but not the governing laws.’ ‘I don’t know what you mean.’ ‘Oh, you worked it out very nicely on a surface level, I’ll grant you that. What you failed to appreciate were the undercurrents.’ ‘Stop talking in euphemisms, it’s bloody annoying.’ ‘I’ve seen inside Kendric’s mind,’ Greg said. ‘He dreams of you, Julia.’ ‘He does?’ She was suddenly very uncertain. ‘He hates you, and fears you. He wants to destroy you. No. He’s obsessed with destroying you. Not merely Event Horizon, but you personally, physically. He wants you beneath him, Julia, spread-eagled and screaming. He’s sick in a way you’ll never know.’ ‘I do know,’ she insisted quietly. ‘No, not really; you still haven’t twigged, have you? Loathing is an abstract to you, a word whose meaning you’ve looked up in a dictionary. Kendric is its physical embodiment, lethal, and scatological to boot. You will never understand the sheer intensity of his revenge psychosis. It’s a monstrous personality dysfunction. ‘Tell you, Kendric sets up targets to knock down, fixates on them, devoting himself singlemindedly to their downfall. For the kind of left-hand business he’s involved with it’s a commendable trait. He’d been pretty successful, too; built up a good reputation for reliability, top man in the field. He’d never really known failure. Then I come along, hired by your grandfather, and we thwart him in what was probably his most ambitious scheme ever: asset-stripping Event Horizon. His first true dйbгcle. Then you followed it up by humiliating him with blackmail. Anyone flying that high is going to be hurt bad by the fall. Small wonder you dominate his thoughts; any normal person would be bitter, but with a wacko like that it was probably the push over the edge. You misjudged him PITUR F. HAMILTON She came as near to embarrassment as he’d ever seen her. ‘I remember someone mentioning the name once. Some sort of drug?’ she said distantly. ‘It’s not quite a drug. Phyltre is a symbiotic bacterium which lives in the blood stream, similar biotechnology principle as the gland. Strictly speaking it’s a physiologically benign parasite. The most expensive narcotic ever created, a logical extrapolation from the old Ecstasy drug. It boosts orgasmic pleasure tenfold, a genuine designer high.’ ‘Oh.’ Julia was studying her nails with minute attention. ‘Pavlov would understand what Kendric has done to her. It’s the nastiest form of conditioning I’ve ever come across. If, and only if, she does exactly what he tells her to then he takes her to bed and gives her that super-orgasm for a reward. She doesn’t know it can happen with anybody. ‘I imagine one of the first things he made her do was recount every conversation she’d had with you for the last few months, looking for something to use against you. He really lucked out discovering your grandfather’s NN core plans.’ Julia was silent for a minute, then said, ‘Thanks for not saying any of this in front of Grandpa.’ He glared at her, feeling his hands ache as his blood rose. ‘Now what?’ she cried. ‘There’s just nothing that gets through to you, is there? I tell you that there’s a maniac out there who wants your blood; that you’re responsible for your best friend being raped twice a day for over a fortnight, that her mind’s being systematically destroyed, and all you say is thanks for not telling a swarm of electrons floating round in a mutated vegetable. You fucking ice-bitch!’ ‘Well, for Christ’s sake what do you want from me!’ she screamed back. ‘I know all about bloody Kendric. I know more than anybody. I knew he was behind this right from the beginning. But all you cleverdick hardliners did was charge off after moles and hotrods. Nobody ever listens to a word I say, I’m just a nothing. I’m a signature on the bottom of papers. A performing seal. Well I’m not. I’ll bloody well show all of you. Nobody’s going to treat me like a joke after this. MINDSTAR RISING 287 I’m going to kill that bastard di Girolamo for what he’s done to me and Grandpa. And you, gland freak, you’re going to get the proof for me, like you’ve been paid for. That’s all you are, a paid freako let out of the zoo. And if you want to stay out of your cage, freako, you’ll do what I bloody well tell you!’ Greg slapped her. Not hard, his hand was still sore. But Julia stared at him for one frozen horrified second, then burst into tears. Greg raised his eyes heavenwards, cursing his own blundering stupidity. He saw the gardeners walking past the Duo, their wellingtons squelching through the puddles on the lawn. They glanced over at the car, its hot muffled voices, grey misted windows, seeing a figure hunched up in the front seat, face in hands, rocking back and forth. One turned to the other and barked a remark, there was a burst of lusty laughter, and they walked on. The shallow imprints left by their footprints slowly filled with muddy water behind them. ‘Greg? I didn’t mean it.’ ‘I know. I’m sorry I slapped you.’ ‘Didn’t hurt.’ Her cheeks were smeared with silver snail’s trails of tears, nature’s aphrodisiac. She looked terribly fragile and appealing. The ivory tower princess fallen to earth with a bump, lost and frightened in the world she’d only ever glimpsed from afar. Greg wanted to put his arms round her and give her a big comforting hug. Resistance came hard. A big teardrop formed on the bottom of her chin. ‘Greg, he doesn’t want me,’ she said in a tiny voice. ‘Julia-‘ ‘No really.’ Red-rimmed eyes blinked in anguish. ‘He’s already had me.’ She was suddenly in his arms, pressed against him, shivering uncontrollably. He hugged her, stroking her spine to give what reassurance he could. Praying he’d misheard, knowing he hadn’t. ‘I was fifteen,’ she said. ‘Shush. It’s over.’ ‘No, I want to say it.’ 288 PITIR F. HAMILTON He studied her face, seeing the need; his espersense slid behind the hot skin and damp eyes. She really was terrified of Kendric. Funny, he’d never noticed that before, but she’d always toughed out any mention of his name. ‘Then tell me.’ ‘It was my fifteenth birthday party. I’d never been happier, the PSP had just fallen, Grandpa’s illness hadn’t developed, and me and all my friends were dressed up in such wonderful dresses. Kendric came with a present for me, perfume, all gift wrapped. Uncle Kendric. He and Grandpa hadn’t fallen out then, you see. He gave me the perfume, and said that was only half of the present. He told me his nieces and nephews were all going to go cruising on the Mirriam for a fortnight, a di Girolamo family outing, and would I like to come. I pleaded with Grandpa to let me go. Grandpa never can say no to me. And then when I went on board there was only Kendric, no relatives, no family cruise. He was waiting for me. My present. I was too young, too stupidly blind with romance to realize. He was so handsome, the older man, rich, and cultured, and charming. God was he charming. You can’t know what a man like that is capable of doing to the mind of a silly fifteen-year-old. The whole thing was like a channel drama made by the best director in the world, alone together on a yacht, surrounded by sea, shorelines, and golden sunsets. I loved every second of it. Believed every word he said. He hadn’t married Hermione then. I thought I was the one. I was going to marry him. I was going to have his babies for him. I didn’t believe God could create a monster like Kendric. Not on this world, the Good Earth.’ She finished with a limp twitch of her lips. Greg carefully brushed some tangled wisps of hair from her face. ‘God,’ she choked. ‘You must think I’m bloody worthless.’ ‘I think you’re quite beautiful, actually.’ Punished eyes widened in surprise. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘I never got in touch after you sent all that gear to the chalet, I didn’t trust myself.’ ‘With me?’ He gave a slight nod. MINDSTAR RISING 289 ‘Oh.’ She wiped the back of her hand across her face, spreading her tears around. Greg smiled, and pulled a paper hanky from the glove compartment. They drew apart a little. But the spark of intimacy remained. It would always be there, he knew, carried to the grave. He cleared his throat, resentful that some analytical part of his brain never switched off, not even through this. ‘Julia, did you tell Kendric about the giga-conductor?’ She wiped the last tear away and crumpled the hanky. ‘No. All this happened a year before Grandpa told me about Ranasfari and the giga-conductor research project; Ranasfari wasn’t even close to a cryogenic gigs-conductor then. Kendric didn’t have any ulterior motive for seducing me. I was just fun, a notch on his bedpost. He enjoys it, the game he plays in his mind, me and all the other dumb little girls are no different to his business deals. The lies and clever words corrupt us, then we belong to him, worship him. He gets as much satisfaction from our beguilement as he does from the sex. He’s a power junkie.’ He looked away, trying to lose the terrible image of Julia, a younger, smaller, more delicate Julia, lying below Kendric. ‘You will get the proof, won’t you, Greg?’ she asked urgently. ‘I’m so scared of him. I’ve not told anybody that before, but he frightens me.’ ‘I’ll provide the proof Morgan Walshaw insists on, no messing.’ He kneaded his temple with thumb and forefinger. ‘There’s a couple of things I want you to do for me.’ She regarded him with comic seriousness. ‘Anything.’ ‘Firstly, go back into the house and have a word with Waishaw. I want your personal protection stepped up. You’re not the only one Kendric frightens; before yesterday I hadn’t realized exactly how warped that man is. He is quite capable of having you killed. Especially now he realizes that his games are over. It’s gloves-off time, I’m afraid, Julia.’ ‘Right.’ ‘Secondly: Katerina. I’m going to put a stop to that.’ ‘I don’t understand.’ 290 PITIR F. HAMILTON ‘Snatch her from the Mirriam, and then shove her through detoxification treatment. But that’s going to cost.’ ‘Money doesn’t bother me.’ ‘Right. I suppose it’ll have to be in America or the Caribbean. I haven’t looked into it, hell, I don’t even know if you can detoxify a phyltre user. If not, then it’ll be a good research project for Event Horizon to undertake.’ Julia nodded in relief. ‘I promise, Greg. Whatever it takes. Event Horizon has a clinic in Austria, they can do anything there.’ Greg didn’t share her glibness about that, but at least she was genuinely intent on making amends. ‘Fine. I’ll snatch her back tonight.’ ‘Tonight?’ ‘Yes. I don’t want to leave her on the Mirriam a minute longer than necessary, I’d develop nightmares. I’ll bring her to Event Horizon’s finance division offices. Your people can take her from there.’ ‘I’ll come.’ ‘No, Julia.’ ‘Yes. The finance division is just as secure as Wilholm. And I want to see her. After all, I’m the one who put her there, and I’ve had a taste of what she’s been through.’ He nearly started to say no again, but there wasn’t a logical argument against her going. Besides, he could see Julia wasn’t going to be moved. Philip Evans wasn’t the only one she could wrap around her little finger. ‘All right, but you get Waishaw to make the travel arrangements, and turn up around midnight prepared for a long wait.’ ‘Do you want the company security hardliners to help you?’ ‘No. I’m not familiar with their capabilities. I do know all about the people I’m going to be using.’ ‘What people? Tekmercs?’ she asked with frank curiosity. ‘Tell you sometime.’ She gave him a timid smile. ‘That’s a date.’ Greg turned the jammer off, and Julia opened her door. ‘Julia.’ She froze with her legs out of the car. MINDSTAR RISING