"Well — " Annoyingly, he was right. She didn't even know why she cared; she'd seen it happen plenty of times before. But Payne had been kind to her, when there was no percentage in it for him. She owed him for that at least. "It's . . . not nice."
"
Nice
?" Finally, she had his complete attention. "Sara, let's try to concentrate on the important things, shall we? Carnac's planning to execute the entire staff and you're worried about me being
nice
to some little shit from the Service?"
"But it isn't nice. Service or not, he's a sweet bloke. He showed me a picture of his wife. They've got a conception license approval pending."
"What the hell does that have to do with anything? He was keen enough to get a cock in his mouth, married or not. Anyway, he'll be gone after the inspection. It's no big deal — it's just a fuck."
God, Warrick must get sick of hearing that. "Does Payne know it's 'just a fuck'?"
"I don't know." He shrugged, scanning down his screen again. "Never bothered to ask him. If he doesn't think so, that's not my problem, is it?"
He clearly knew perfectly well that Payne thought it was nothing of the kind, and he'd probably gone out of his way to make sure of it. "It's . . . immoral."
Toreth stared at her, blankly uncomprehending. "
Immoral
? Jesus, you've been expanding your vocabulary."
"I've got morals. You're trying to keep I&I going, Carnac's trying to destroy it, and poor bloody Payne's just a casualty in the crossfire between you, isn't he?"
"I didn't pick him. Take it up with Carnac, if you think it'll do any good." His voice hardened. "After everything's settled. Until then you keep your mouth shut. Understand? Why the fuck are you getting so wound up about him, anyway? He isn't even I&I. And it's not like I particularly wanted to fuck him in the first place."
She stared, genuinely outraged and knowing that she shouldn't be, not after all this time. "That's supposed to make it better?"
"It means I'll be glad when that fucking inspection finally turns up. He's boring the arse off me. Prissy, self-righteous little twat. If you want to feel sorry for anyone, try his fucking wife. She's the one who has to suffer it the rest of the time."
There was no point in trying to argue it out any longer. If she explained for a week, he wouldn't see her point. He wasn't capable of seeing it, although knowing that didn't put her in a better mood. So she left, without further comment.
As she sat down at her desk, the subject of the argument passed her, heading for Toreth's office and looking harassed. If she hadn't learned better than to do things in the grip of a bad temper, she would have stopped him and told him exactly what Toreth thought of him.
When the door opened again, he expected Sara, having thought of some parting words too good to waste. In fact it was Payne. He stopped inside the doorway and looked around the office.
"Have you seen my comm?"
"No. Where were you? I've got things for you to do."
Payne shook his head. "'Fraid not. Carnac called me down to his office as soon as I got in — he's sent me back to headquarters for a couple of days." He frowned. "Didn't he tell you?"
Carnac shouldn't even be here, which probably meant that the inspection was starting. How the hell had he managed to keep it so quiet? And if it wasn't the inspection . . .
He forced his attention back to Payne. "No, he didn't say anything. When was it?"
Payne was hunting through the controlled chaos in the room. "I should be gone now, but I've put my comm down somewhere and if I don't take it with me I'll be —"
"Payne,
when
did you see Carnac?"
"Oh, just a few minutes ago."
"Did he say anything about me? Was there anything going on down there?"
"No." Payne stopped his search and looked round. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know. Was there anything going on?"
"There were a few more Service people down there than usual. Ordinary troopers doing guard duty — they passed me on my way out. Carnac said —" Payne hesitated.
"Yes?"
"As I was leaving, I heard him say 'fifteen minutes'. That's all."
"Did you come straight here after that?"
"Yes."
Fifteen minutes, say five minutes ago, which meant that he had time — not much, but enough. He could've kissed Payne, and on reflection, decided that he might as well. Payne fended him off, briefly, then gave in.
"Don't do that," he said eventually. "Not here."
"There's no one watching." Toreth kissed him again, just because Payne didn't want him to, then let him go. "I owe you a huge fucking favour, and I'm going to ask for another one."
Now the lieutenant looked wary. "What?"
"Don't go to headquarters, not yet. Go hang around in one of the offices and wait for me to come and get you."
Wariness turned into horror. "That's disobeying a direct order! I could get —"
"I know, I know. I promise it won't be for long — you can tell HQ that you got delayed on the way over. No one will ever know." He put his hand on Payne's arm, still standing close enough to kiss him again if he had to. "Jay, I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important. Please."
Squeeze of Payne's arm for emphasis while he hesitated. Finally, he nodded reluctantly. "An hour. That's the most I can do."
"No longer, I promise. Use Narr's office, he's in interrogation." As he was about to open the door, a sudden, clear premonition stopped him. Guards. Lots of guards in Carnac's office. "No, hang on — wait in the toilets. The ones down the hall and left."
He watched Payne go, gave him long enough to get away from the door, then went out too.
Sara was staring across the office at Payne's retreating back. "What's wrong with
him
?" she asked. "I suppose it's too much to hope that he's seen sense at last and told you where else to stick it?"
"I don't have time to talk about Payne."
She looked round, instantly attentive. "What's the matter?"
"I need you to get onto everyone on the list. Tell them to put the plan into action now — whatever's ready. Start with the systems changes, then notify the others. Anyone you can't get on comms, go round afterwards and tell them in person. But everyone has to know."
She nodded. "I'll get started."
"No, not here. Carnac's on his way any minute — the inspection might be starting. And if it's not that, then I think someone's spilled the plan." Her eyes widened. "Yeah. In fact, if anyone looks guilty when you're calling round, make a note of the name."
Then I'm going to nail their testicles to the wall. Or whatever else I can get hold of, if they don't have any.
She began gathering things up. "Where should I go?" she asked.
"Ah . . . down a level and find somewhere quiet in Systems. The surveillance is still out down there and you can tell them in person to start the changes. Tell everyone not to accept any orders changing anything unless it comes through me or you. And don't come back here afterwards. I'll call or come looking for you if I need you. If you don't see me, I'll leave a message with your sister this evening and let you know how it went."
"Jesus." She stared at him for a moment, but she didn't say anything else. She didn't ask if he was sure he wanted her to go, or if he would be all right on his own, or any other time-wasting rubbish. If Carnac didn't sack both of them, he'd get her the biggest bonus in the history of I&I when this was all over.
"Go on," he said.
"I'm going. Good luck."
She left her desk as tidy as it always was when she wasn't there, so he messed it up to make it look as if she was in residence. Then he went back into the office to wait for Carnac.
It took him another ten minutes to show, ten precious minutes while Sara got into place and started making calls. Carnac brought two of the Service guards into the office, and Toreth could see a handful more outside. A show of muscle to intimidate, he hoped. There weren't any legitimate grounds to arrest him — as if that would help.
"Toreth, what's going on?" Carnac sounded as if this was any other visit.
Start with the formal denials, to buy time. "With what?"
"You know perfectly well what I mean."
"Sorry, I'm afraid I have no idea. Could you give me a clue or do you want me to guess?"
"You're making major changes to I&I policy without my authorisation."
"Am I?"
Carnac stationed the guards by the door and came over. He planted his hands on the desk and leaned across it. "You're wasting your time and mine. I know that you're planning to alter interrogation procedures. I know what the new procedures are. And I know why you're doing it."
"It's taken you long enough to find out."
Carnac shook his head. "I've know for days that you would try something like this. Ever since I woke up and wondered why I'd suddenly become irresistible. More irresistible, rather." Dazzling smile, which didn't touch his eyes. "It seemed easier to let you run and allow you to occupy yourself with your little plans until the right time to put a stop to it. That time is now."
For a moment he felt sick. This was why Carnac pulled in the kind of fees he did. Why the hell had he ever thought he'd be able to outplay him?
But the fact that Carnac had known all along didn't matter, as long as the plan worked. "You gave me operational control. I'm doing exactly what you told me to do — getting I&I up and running again."
"Changes on that scale require my authorisation."
"I'm terribly sorry, you didn't make that clear."
Carnac glared at him. "I'm making it clear now. Those plans go no further, no one else hears about them and they will not be implemented. Is
that
clear enough for you?"
He spread his hands. "I'm sorry, it's too late. The order to make the changes had already gone out."
That stopped him dead. After a moment, Carnac said, "You're lying."
Somehow he kept the smile off his face. "The orders have gone out. The system's been changed."
"In that case, you will change it back. Quickly and quietly."
"I'm afraid not." He leaned back in his chair. "If you want me to do that, then I want an order, in writing, with your name all over it."
There was no way out of that. Carnac would have to let it slide, or he would have to put his own name on keeping the old I&I. Checkmate.
To his horror, Carnac smiled. "Do you know, Val, I thought you might say that." He stood up and pulled a hand screen from his jacket pocket and dropped it in front of Toreth. "Read this."
A quick scan through showed it to be the security file of an Int-Sec undercover agent. Interesting to consider how Carnac might have laid his hands on it, but not . . . and then he saw the agent's cover name.
Kailynna Avens. Known as Kate.
Warrick's mother.
As much as seeing the name shocked him, it immediately made sense. He'd known for years that Warrick's supposedly late father had been Int-Sec, and this new fact filled in a dozen tiny gaps and inconsistencies in the story that he hadn't even noticed until now. However, Warrick didn't know, about any of it, and the most cursory consideration of what Carnac could do with the knowledge chilled him.
After a few seconds he closed his mouth, then handed the screen back with his best attempt at nonchalance. "I don't see what difference that makes." At least he somehow kept his voice level.
"Oh,
good
." Carnac's pleasure was undoubtedly genuine, and the fear tightened. "Then let me spell it out for you. You will rescind this order of yours or Kate will be arrested, tried and executed as an agent of the old Administration responsible for multiple deaths."
Blackmail only worked if the victims showed they were afraid. "That would be a shame for Kate, but I don't see how it changes anything."
Carnac stared at him, briefly and impressively speechless. Finally he spoke in a venomous whisper. "Someone once said to me that no one deserves to die. But then, I suspect, they had never been to this place."
"If you say so." He shrugged. "I'm not the one threatening to kill Warrick's mother, and the entire staff of 'this place'."
Carnac flushed crimson. "It will be a
pleasure
to put you all down. You and the rest of the treacherous animals here."
He'd never seen Carnac come so close to losing control, which offered an opportunity to catch him off guard. "So that's how you found out."
Carnac's lip curled. "You didn't expect loyalty from the creatures who work
here
, did you? You disgust me, all of you."
Point to Warrick. He'd have to tell him, if he saw him again.
For now, he smiled at Carnac, wondering if he could tip him over the edge and what the guards would do about it if he did. "Disgust you? That's not how I remember it." He ran his hand along the desk, not bothering to keep his voice down. "I remember you bending over here, telling me you wanted it harder."
For one blissful moment, he thought Carnac might hit him. Then the socioanalyst caught hold of himself. "You two," he said, without looking away, "wait outside. Immediately outside. Leave the door open."
His voice was all icy control and anticipation.
When the guards had obeyed, Carnac picked up the screen. "Before Kailynna is questioned, she will spend a day or two with a psychoprogramming team who have unwisely accepted my assurances that they will escape execution if they perform a small memory adjustment for me."
He paused, obviously savouring the moment. "They will give her the memory of recommending to Int-Sec that an agent be appointed to keep a close watch on her youngest son and his small but valuable corporation."
Toreth didn't need to hear the next sentence — his mind was already racing past it to the implications.
"She will also gain the clear and convincing memory that the agent is you. Since so many of the Int-Sec files were lost in the recent misfortunes, the lack of corroborating evidence will be unfortunate, but hardly fatal to the prosecution." Every word was sharp and crisp, as Carnac explained the inevitable progress of events. "You will be arrested, imprisoned and possibly executed. This time, there will be no pleas from Keir to save you. In fact, I doubt he would cross the street to spit on you, once he has been fully appraised of your appalling betrayal."