Evangeline let go of his hands and stepped back. “We held your funeral today. Placed an empty coffin with your name on it in your Family vault.”
“I know,” said Finlay. “I was watching. From a discreet distance. Not much of a turnout, was it? Good of Robert to come, though. We never could stand each other. And Addie and the kids ... they should be all right. Addie was doing very well in stocks and shares, last I heard.”
“So now you’re officially dead. What next? A new life; someone completely different from the old you?”
“Of course. It’s not for the first time, after all. Finlay Campbell had his day, but it’s over now. Time to move on. With centralized records still in chaos after the rebellion, adopting a new identity is easy these days. Lots of people are doing it, for all kinds of reasons. And whereas Finlay Campbell could never marry you, for all sorts of reasons, there’s nothing to keep you and whoever I become apart. We can be together at last.”
They hugged again, Evangeline burying her face in Finlay’s chest. “Won’t you miss your old life?” she said finally.
“Not really. Neither Finlay Campbell nor the Masked Gladiator were ever really me. Just parts of me. Things I did to pass the time. And anyway, people never did appreciate what Finlay Campbell did for them in the rebellion. Not like Julian, with his own holo show.”
“He’s dead, you know.”
“Yes, I know. Poor Julian, at rest at last. At least he took that Chojiro bitch with him.”
“It’s being presented as a lovers’ quarrel,” said Evangeline. “The official line is he lost his mind when he discovered he was dying, and wanted to take BB with him. The Chojiros went out of their way to say they didn’t blame Julian. He was still very popular, after all. The whole city came to a standstill for his funeral.”
“I know,” said Finlay. “I was there, standing in the crowd on the sidewalk as his funeral procession went by. Men and women were weeping openly. He was the people’s hero. Not a legend like Owen or Jack Random, or shadowy figures like you and me.”
“You shouldn’t have gone. It was dangerous for you to appear in public. Julian would have understood.”
“I was disguised. And I couldn’t let him go without saying good-bye. I never really had a friend, before. He worshipped me, though I kept telling him not to. He could never understand how much I admired him. He was the real thing; an actual hero, fighting the good fight just because he believed in it. I was pushed into it. Only joined the underground so I could be close to you. Still; at least he got a good send-off. I was amazed to see his holo show was still running, with an actor playing his part. Bigger audience share than ever. He tried once to set me up as a guest star, but apparently the networks considered me unsuitable material.” Finlay grinned. “How right they were. So; what are you doing with yourself, these days, Evie? From what I’ve heard, you seem to be practically running the clone underground.”
“Someone has to,” said Evangeline. She pushed herself away from him, and sniffed a few times, her tears over. “The previous leaders let their new power and money go to their heads. They squandered their influence and voice for backroom promises and generous bribes, and achieved nothing. The clones should have been a major voice in the new administration. And by the time I’m finished, they will be. I got involved originally just to keep myself occupied, but you wouldn’t believe the amount of corruption I uncovered. I couldn’t go to the law; if word got out, it would discredit the whole clone movement. So, I’ve been slowly cleaning out the rats from the inside, and disposing of the bodies where no one will ever find them. You’ve come back from the dead at a very useful time, Finlay; I can use a strong right arm.”
“When did you get to be so practical?” said Finlay wonderingly.
“I had no choice. I was alone. And I suppose I had to grow up sometime. Losing my hated father and my dearest love on the same day convinced me I couldn’t afford to be a child any longer.”
“I can’t be seen with you publicly,” said Finlay. “Not until we can find a body shop we can trust, to change my face and body language.”
“You can wear a mask,” said Evangeline, smiling. “You’re used to that. We’ll call you the Unknown Clone; a living symbol of all the clones who died to bring about clone equality. The movement can use a symbol like that.”
“Will I get to kill people?” said Finlay.
“Oh lots,” said Evangeline, and they both laughed.
Daniel Wolfe sat bolt upright in his bed, trying not to scream this time. The nightmare was already fading away as he tried to hang on to it, and he could no longer remember exactly what it was that had disturbed him so. But his body remembered. He was soaked in sweat, his heart hammering in his chest, and he was panting for breath as though he’d been running for his life. Perhaps he had been. He pushed the sweaty sheets aside, and called for light. The lights snapped on with reassuring speed, and his bedroom appeared around him. His old bedroom, from when he’d been a child growing up in Tower Wolfe. Stephanie had had it opened up again especially for him, when it became clear how badly he needed somewhere he could feel safe and secure.
Something had happened to him, during his search for his dead father, something awful. So bad he couldn’t remember any of it. Except in his dreams.
He swung down from his bed and padded over to the nightstand to wash his face in the basin. The cool water was soothing, but he remained troubled. He felt sure there was something he ought to remember. Something important. No matter how much it terrified him.
His door slid open, and his heart jumped painfully in his chest. He spun around, arms raised to protect himself from ... something. But it was only his big sister Stephanie, come to see that he was all right. She always knew when there was something wrong with him. She’d come straight from her own bed, her hair still disheveled, a cloak flung over her flimsy nightdress so as not to scandalize the guards. Daniel nodded jerkily to her, and moved back to sit on the edge of his bed. She sat down beside him, and put a comforting arm across his still shaking shoulders.
“Was it the dream again?” she said quietly. “Have you been taking the pills the doctor prescribed?”
“They don’t help. I don’t have any problem sleeping. Just dreaming. No one can stop you from dreaming.”
“Do you have any idea what it is about the dream that’s so bad? So frightening? Or why you keep having the same dream?”
“No. It’s always gone by the time I’m properly awake.” Daniel stared down at his hands, twisting together in his lap. He was wearing pajamas with pictures of Bruin Bear on them, just as he had when he was still a child. They comforted him, and gave him some feeling that someone was looking after him. “It’s just ... something bad is coming. I know it. But I don’t know what, or why, or how ... I wish you’d call in an esper. Have them dig it out of my head.”
“We’ve been through this before, Danny,” said Stephanie firmly. “If we call in an esper, word would be bound to get out. And then people would talk. We can’t have the other Families, or anyone else, seeing us as weak. Not with things ... as they are. It’s only a dream, Danny. You’ll get over it.”
“If only I could remember ...” Daniel glared helplessly down at his hands, clenched into useless fists.
Stephanie made hushing noises to him, and rocked him back and forth a little. Daniel began to relax, almost in spite of himself. He remembered his mother doing the same thing, when he was very young. “Don’t worry about a stupid old dream,” said Stephanie. “You’re entitled to a few bad dreams, after spending so long trapped in the wreckage of your ship. Just be grateful your transponder finally decided to start working again, so we could track you down, and pay for your transport home. Be glad you’re still alive, Danny. A crash that bad would have killed most people.”
“Then why can’t I remember anything about it? Why do I have no memories at all of why I crashed, or what I was doing so near that deserted moon?” Daniel’s face creased up with frustration, like a chi
ld’s. “I was gone for months. Where was I, all that time?”
“It’ll all come back,” said Stephanie. “Give it time.”
“I don’t know if I want it to. I’m scared, Steph.”
“Look, try and tough it out for a while longer. If you’re no better in a few weeks’ time, I’ll see about smuggling an esper in here. There are still a few people who owed Clan Wolfe favors. In the meantime, thank your lucky stars you crashed when you did. You were well on your way to the Forbidden Sector, and no one comes back from there.”
“So everyone keeps telling me.” Daniel sighed heavily. “I wish I could have found father. Or even just his body, to bring it home to the Family vault. I miss him so much, Steph.”
“I don’t. He was a tyrant and a bully. Never cared for what we wanted, and far too ready to knock you about when it suited him. He never laid a hand on me. Knew damn well I’d stab him if he tried. We’re much better off now he’s gone. Valentine’s disappeared, Constance is completely preoccupied with her forthcoming wedding ... and I have secret allies. If we work this right, we could secure control of this Family, Daniel, and run it as it should be run. Make us a power in the land again. Isn’t that what we always wanted?”
“I suppose so,” said Daniel. “You always know best, Steph. You go on back to your room. I’ll be all right now.”
“All right. Change into some fresh pajamas first. There’s a clean pair in the cupboard.” She gave his shoulder a last comforting squeeze, and stood up. “You go straight back to sleep, Daniel. And no more bad dreams.”
“Yes, Steph.”
She kissed him on the forehead, waggled her fingers in a good-bye, and left the room. Daniel sighed, and stripped off his sweat-soaked pajamas. He left them lying on the floor, padded over to the cupboard, and put on a new pair. They smelled clean and fresh and safe. He started to get back into bed, and then grimaced at the feel and smell of the sweaty bedclothes. He got up again, and clumsily remade the bed with new sheets and blankets. He couldn’t have the servants do it. They would only have gossiped, and he still had his pride.
He lay down again, and pulled the sheet and blankets right up to his chin. The bright light hurt his tired eyes, but he didn’t feel strong enough to turn the lights off yet. Maybe he never would. He scowled, suddenly angry with himself. He was a Wolfe, dammit. His father had raised him to be stronger than this. He opened his mouth to turn off the lights, and then stopped as he suddenly realized he had another visitor. The door hadn’t opened, and he hadn’t heard or seen anyone approach, but nevertheless, he was no longer alone. Daniel sat up slowly in his bed, staring into the bright mascaraed eyes of his older brother, Valentine.
He was sitting, or rather perching, on the end of Daniel’s bed, hugging his knees to his chest, his pale face and dark ringletted hair tilted a little to one side as he regarded his brother with feverbright eyes. Dressed all in black, as always, he seemed like a giant crow or raven; a bird of ill omen. His scarlet mouth moved from a wide smile to a mock disappointed pout as he studied his brother. “What’s this, dear Daniel? No welcome home? No words of cheer at the return of the prodigal son?”
“How the hell did you get in here?” said Daniel, anger for the moment pushing aside his weaker feelings. “How did you get past security, and break in here without me noticing?”
“No one sees me anymore, unless I want them to,” said Valentine easily. “I took the esper drug, you see, and now I cloud the thoughts of mortal men as I walk unseen amongst them.”
“What do you want, Valentine?” said Daniel sharply, wondering if he dared reach for the gun he always kept under his pillow these days. Valentine didn’t appear to be armed, but he was always dangerous. “What do you want with me, at this ungodly hour?”
“To welcome you home, of course, and see you gathered safely back into the Family fold.” He laughed softly, a harsh, unsettling sound. “I can’t come home again, you see. I’ve gone too far, seen too much, changed too much, but I retain a kind of nostalgia for the way things used to be, when I was younger and still, merely, human.” He fixed Daniel with his dark gaze. “I hear you’re doing well for yourself, little brother. Constance, dear Constance, has given you control of the day-to-day running of the Clan, while she prepares for marriages and monarchy.”
“She needed someone. And she’s never trusted Stephanie.”
“How very wise,” said Valentine affably. “And you have been very outspoken since your return, about the menace of Shub, and the danger of Shub infiltrators. Why is that, do you suppose? You never showed any interest in public affairs before.”
Daniel frowned. “I don’t know. It just seems the right thing to do. And I have this feeling ... that Shub is a far greater threat than we know. That the rogue AIs are up to something. Something awful.”
“You’re doing very well,” said Valentine admiringly. “Everyone’s very impressed with you. Chairing discussions, beefing up Family security, getting involved in all kinds of things. Dear Daddy would be so proud of you. He was never proud of me. But then, I was never content to be just another Wolfe.” Valentine pouted daintily. “I have made something much more dark and dangerous and very glamorous of myself, Daniel.”
“You made a deal with Shub,” said Daniel slowly. “When you were head of the Family. Just how many of Humanity’s secrets did you sell to the rogue AIs of Shub? And what did you get in return?”
“More than you can imagine. And I would have done far more, but events rather got away from me.”
“Who else in the Clan worked with you? How far did the corruption go?”
“Oh, I worked alone, Daniel. I always have. I’m the only real black sheep of this Family. I’ve never liked competition. If I’d ever seen you or our dear sister as serious competition, I’d have had you both strangled in your beds long ago. Ah, the happy carefree days of youth! I almost miss them. Which is one of the reasons I’m here. To say good-bye to my youth, my past. I’m someone else now, bound on a journey to places you couldn’t even imagine.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Valentine?”
“You never did have any patience, Daniel. Let me put it so simply even you can’t fail to understand me. I have joined with Shub. I will become as they are; powerful and immortal, riding an endless trip on unadulterated reality. The ultimate, never-ending high. And along the way, I shall help to bring about the destruction of all Humanity. Just because I can. And you’ll help me do it, dear brother.”
“Never!” said Daniel. He pulled the disrupter out from under his pillow and shot Valentine in the gut. The point-blank energy blast punched right through Valentine’s midriff and out his back, so suddenly his body barely rocked in its perch on the end of the bed. The smell of burned meat was heavy on the air. Valentine gasped once, and bent slowly forward over his wound, almost as though bowing to his brother. Daniel felt a rush of excitement and achievement. In that moment he felt as though he was destroying all that was dark and evil in Clan Wolfe, cutting it out like a cancer. And then, impossibly, Valentine straightened up again. A wide hole had been burned through his shirtfront by the energy beam, but there was no trace of a wound anywhere. He smiled his wide crimson smile, his eyes gleaming brightly against the surrounding black makeup. His pale face was ghostly, ghastly, demonic.
“Nice try, Daniel. Didn’t think you had it in you. Dear Daddy would be proud. But the likes of you can’t kill me anymore. Not after what I’ve been given. Finlay Campbell tried the same thing in Tower Shreck. I told you I was immortal. Now; any last questions before I leave? I might even answer them; for old times’ sake.”
Daniel realized he was still pointing his disrupter at Valentine, and slowly lowered his arm. If he could keep Valentine talking ... Security had to have detected an energy gun discharging inside the Tower ... “Did you kill our father, Valentine?”
“Of course. He was in my way. Yours too, but I knew you and Stephanie would never find the guts to do what needed to be done. Jacob had got old
. Worse; he’d got old-fashioned. He never saw the possibilities in a real alliance with Shub. And I never did care for him. He never cared for me.”
“You never gave him cause to.”
“I was his son,” said Valentine. “His firstborn, and his heir. And because I chose to follow my own path, rather than the one he’d chosen for me, he disowned me. So I disowned him with a blade in the back, and soon I will disown all Humanity.”
Daniel laughed disbelievingly. He couldn’t help himself. “That’s it? Everything you’ve done, all the people you’ve killed and mean to kill; just because Daddy didn’t love you enough? You pitiful long streak of piss.”
Valentine snarled at him, and lunged forward impossibly quickly. He crouched over Daniel, grabbed a handful of his pajama jacket, and pulled Daniel’s face close to his. “I know why you’ve been having nightmares, little brother. I know where you went and what you saw. If you’d asked me nicely, I might even have told you. But now I’ll just leave you to your night sweats and your desperate dreams, and I shall take great delight in seeing your face when your nightmare embraces all Humanity. Give my love to Steph. But no tongues. We are Family, after all.”
And then he was gone, air rushing in to fill the space where he’d been. Daniel tried to control his whirling thoughts. Everyone knew Shub had remote control teleportation. That’s how they’d got past the Quarantine, and broken out of the Forbidden Sector undetected. So, for once, Valentine was probably telling the truth about his new allies. And maybe he did know what had happened on Daniel’s quest to find his dead father. Daniel decided it was time to do what was necessary, and to hell with the consequences. He had to find a telepath. An esper powerful enough to dig into his mind, and find the truth. Before his nightmare became Humanity’s.