Steven Harper - Nightmare

Ara nodded, though Tan couldn’t see her. ~This complicates everything. Back when we thought Dorna was the killer, we at least knew what planet she was on. But Cole could be anywhere in the galaxy. How are we going to track him down?~

— Sales records are the best bet,~ Tan said. ~Once we explain why we want him, even the anonymous sales people will probably open their records to us. All we have to do is threaten to spread word through the Dream that they bought and sold a serial killer. They’ll cave in or watch their business dry up.~

— You’re evil,~ Ara observed. ~I like that.~

— Cole is younger than Dorna by about two years,~ Tan said. ~So he’d be about twenty-four. Want me to come in there and start looking?~

— I can handle this end,~ Ara told her, secretly glad to be out of Rashid’s office and away from files full of pain and death. ~You keep trading notes with Rashid and see if anything else comes up. I’ll get started with Silent Acquisitions right now and let you know what turns up.~

They parted company and Ara opened her eyes. Kendi sat on the grass of the pleasure garden, drumming his fingers impatiently on his thighs. On Ara’s turf he was dressed in a long linen shirt, loose scarlet pants, and a matching scarlet fez hat. Ara thought he looked rather dashing. Ched-Hisak was nowhere to be seen.

"He said he had stuff to do," Kendi said in answer to her unspoken question. "So what did Inspector Tan say?"

Ara recited the conversation word-for-word. Kendi listened raptly, his face a picture of awe.

"How did you do that?" he demanded. "You even imitated her voice."

"Training, O my apprentice," Ara said. "You’ll learn to do the same thing. Come on-we have some slavers to bully."

"Can we walk, please?" Kendi asked. "I don’t want to barf my guts out on someone else’s turf."

"We do have to work on that," Ara sighed. "It’s not normal. But yes, we can walk. This way."

A few moments later, they were standing before the same chrome desk on the same blue carpet Ara had seen before. The Silent Acquisitions sign indicated the company was willing to meet Ara’s needs, though she had her doubts on that score. The same red cone-shaped alien-or perhaps another member of the same species-greeted Ara and Kendi with the same cold pudding voice Ara had heard before.

"Are either or both of you connected with the Children of Irfan?"

"We are investigating a series of Silent murders," Ara told the creature, "and we have evidence that the killer came through your slave warehouses. I need to speak with someone immediately."

The creature’s expression, if it had one, didn’t change. Instead it said, "One moment," and vanished, taking the reception area with it and leaving Ara and Kendi standing on an empty plain. Whether the creature had left the Dream entirely or simply gone to another part of it, Ara didn’t know.

A few moments later, another office appeared. This one had red carpet, scarlet wallpaper, and red plush furniture. Even the woodwork and the tables were red. Standing in front of the cherry wood desk was a rather pudgy man wearing a kimono of embroidered red silk. Kendi rubbed his eyes.

"Fashion pain," he muttered, and Ara nudged him.

"I am Sales Manager Leethe," the pudgy man said. His tone made it clear that although he hadn’t made up his mind about Ara and Kendi, he was inclined toward hostility. "How may I help you?"

"My name is Mother Araceil Rymar of the Children of Irfan," Ara said. "This is my student Kendi Weaver. I am investigating a series of murders on the planet Bellerophon. So far over a dozen Silent women have been murdered in the Dream, and we have uncovered evidence that indicates the killer was sold through your company. I would like to see the sales records."

"Quite impossible," Leethe said. "Our sales records are confidential."

Ara’s temper started to boil. Women were being murdered-another could go at any time, in fact-and this little man was citing confidentiality? Images of Iris Temm and Vera Cheel, torn and bloody, swam before her and mixed with Diane Giday’s rotting corpse. She drew breath to snap out a reply, then carefully let it out. Kendi’s eyes were on her.

Serene must you ever remain , she told herself. Serene, serene, serene .

"I’m not sure you fully understand the situation, Manager Leethe," Ara said. "This person has tortured and murdered fourteen Silent women in the Dream. Five of them were monks at our monastery."

"The problems of the Children of Irfan are of no concern to this company," Leethe said, smoothing his scarlet kimono. For a moment, Ara expected the red color to come off on his hands like blood. "You and your kind cost us millions in revenue every year with your lying, thieving ways. If Emperor Bolivar and Empress Kalii hadn’t granted you protection, we would have-"

Ara raised her hand. A bolt of lightning cracked from her fist and smashed a hole in the ceiling. Kendi gasped and leaped back. Leethe went pale.

"How-how dare you attack my turf," he sputtered. "Empress or not, you’ll hear about-"

"Shut up," Ara snapped. There was a time for serenity and a time for anger. "Let’s get a few things clear, Manager. First, the fact that I could crack your ceiling proves that I’m stronger in the Dream than you are, and that means you’re going to listen. Second, if you don’t cooperate with me, I will see to it that every corner of the universe hears about how Silent Acquisitions withheld information in order to protect a killer of Silent. Of Silent , Manager. How many customers will you lose and how many Silent will refuse to cooperate with your company when word of this gets around? Third, there is something you are going to see, whether you want to or not."

Before Leethe could say a word, Ara reached into the Dream around them and twisted . A blindfold appeared over Kendi’s eyes and earplugs stopped his ears. He tried to pull them off. Ara could feel his resistance, but although he was strong-perhaps even stronger than she-he didn’t have her decades of experience. Leethe’s Dream office resisted Ara’s touch, but his power was nowhere near Ara’s, and his office melted and reformed under her anger. She snapped her fingers. Abruptly they were standing in a dead, black forest. A ghostly Temm ran screaming, and the branches tore her to pieces. Ara gestured, and the Dream changed again. Vera Cheel, transparent and wavery, sat wrapped in heavy chains on her sofa, scarlet blood pouring from a hundred wounds. A shadowy man in black chopped her finger off and wrote a number in blood on her forehead. Leethe made a low, animal sound in his throat and slapped his hands over his eyes. Ara mercilessly yanked them back down. The Dream changed one more time. Diane Giday’s corpse lay stinking and slippery on her living room couch.

"Stop it!" Leethe cried. "You’re making this up. It’s not real!"

"It’s real enough to prevent you from concentrating enough to leave the Dream or teleport away," Ara growled. The smell from Giday’s corpse burned the very air. "Even a slaver must have some conscience-or a sense of self-preservation. The monster that did this passed through your hands, Manager. Tell me what I need to know so I can find him."

Leethe had clapped his hands over his eyes again, but that wouldn’t block out the smell. "Just end it, woman, and I’ll tell you."

Ara snapped her fingers. The scene vanished, replaced by Ara’s pleasure garden. The soft tinkling of the fountain and pleasant birdsong contrasted almost ghoulishly with the horrible images that had been there only moments before. Kendi’s blindfold and earplugs evaporated. He blinked reproachfully at Ara and started to speak, then silenced himself under her heavy glare.