“That was settled,” she said, “long ago, under Earth Alliance law.”
She glanced toward the front of the house. She was thinking of running. If she got too far out, she would be able to call for help through her links.
“Actually,” Yu said, staying close to her, “the case would be settled if you’d handed over your daughter to the Gyonnese. But you didn’t. You hid her.”
His words startled him more than they startled her. He wasn’t talking to her just because he was waiting for Nafti. Yu still wasn’t sure he wanted to do this.
He wanted to hear how she answered.
“No,” Shindo said. “I didn’t hide my daughter. Talia’s been with me the whole time.”
Nafti took that moment to show up. He approached silently, stopping half a meter behind her.
“Talia’s not the child the Gyonnese want and you know it. Talia is too young.” Yu took one step toward her.
Shindo took a step back and ran into Nafti. He didn’t touch her—apparently remembering Yu’s instructions this time.
She glanced over her shoulder and had to look up at Nafti’s tattooed face. She looked from Nafti to Yu and then toward the front again. She was trying to figure out a way out of this.
“Talia is the only child I have,” she said.
Her answers weren’t helping. She actually sounded panicked for the girl.
“Technically, she is the only child you have,” Yu said, “but she’s also what the Gyonnese call a false child. Very clever of you to have the number placed inside the skin, behind an ear. The tag itself intrigued me. The number we found was six. There are five others out there.”
She looked trapped for the first time. Trapped and terrified.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“Tell me where the real child is.” If she did that, he could leave without her or the girl. The Gyonnese wouldn’t complain so long as they got the original child.
“Talia is my real child,” Shindo said, and it sounded like she believed it.
Which disappointed Yu. Maybe she had killed the others, so that the remaining clone would be the only child. Or maybe she had just killed the original. Sometimes it took several attempts to get a viable clone. Five attempts wasn’t unheard of.
“Technically,” Yu said, “Talia’s yours. But the Gyonnese want the original. The true child. Remember? I’m sure you do. It’s the heart of the case against you.”
“Please,” she said. “Leave us alone.”
She glanced toward the street.
“You know I can’t do that,” Yu said.
“I don’t know that.” Now she did sound panicked. “I’ve already told you where my child is.”
“Give us the true child,” Yu said, “or we take you.”
Her mouth opened, and the panic became even more visible. She clearly hadn’t thought anyone would take her. The courts only ruled on the children, as a punishment to her.
“You can’t take me.” Her voice shook. “I’m not on the warrant.”
“We are under orders to take you.” Yu was staring at her in contempt. She hadn’t created those clones to have a child. She had created them as a buffer, to keep herself away from the Gyonnese.
Children, be they human or Gyonnese, didn’t matter to her.
She raised that damn chin even higher. “Show me the legal document giving you that right, and I’ll come freely, so long as you let me contact my attorney.”
Nafti was watching all of this in confusion. He held his arms out slightly so he could grab her if he needed to.
“We don’t need a legal document.” Yu was going to take her. He knew that now. And he didn’t care what the Gyonnese did to her.
At least the child would be all right. In fact, the child would be better off without her.
Shindo’s chin came down. Her eyes were wild. She had finally realized that Yu meant to take her, no matter what.
“You need a warrant,” she said. “The Gyonnese are part of the Alliance. They have to go by Alliance law, just like the rest of us.”
Stupid, arrogant woman. As if she cared about the law.
“If you went by Alliance law,” Yu said, “you would have given up the true child fourteen years ago. Humans flout this law all the time, with their Disappearance Companies that aren’t prosecuted for secreting criminals away and giving them new identities. The Gyonnese decided if you people can do that, they can hire a Recovery Man.”
Shindo lunged toward the front of the house. Nafti didn’t even have to run after her. Instead, he just wrapped his arms around her, imprisoning her against him.
His grip was so tight that tears came to her eyes.
“You’re coming with us,” Yu said.
“Let me contact my lawyer.” She didn’t struggle like her daughter. She must have realized how futile struggling would be.
“If you had one, you’d’ve sent a message through your links by now.” Although Yu knew better. He’d blocked link access this close to the house. “And he couldn’t help you anyway.”
“Kidnapping is a capital offense in human societies.”
Yu shrugged. “We’re just taking you for questioning.”
“Against my will.” Her voice rose in panic.
Nafti inclined his head toward the back, silently asking if Yu wanted him to drag the woman away.
“What did you do to Talia?” Shindo finally asked. It had taken her long enough.
“Nothing,” Yu said.
“But you said—”
“I said we found the tag.”