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and serverware, as though she had brought in a load to be washed.
Bosaru closed his eyes for a second. Thank the Void. She sounded normal.
139
Eilis Flynn
He opened the door to the kitchen area. His cousin was loading the sanitizer, and
beyond her he could see Agie hurry on out to the dining room with a loaded platter.
He frowned. That was odd.
The dining room should have been quickly emptying of customers at that point,
considering it was almost evening.
Jenatt looked up at that point and her eyes widened. Daegon, you re all right, she
said with a gasp. Thank the Merge, you re all right.
She limped toward him, abandoning the sanitizer for the moment. He said you
were dead, she whispered as she hugged him.
Him. Verot is here? he asked in a low voice.
His cousin nodded. He said he had business here, but he was going to have dinner
first. Daegon, I didn t know what else to do.
It s all right. Just do what he wants. He paused. Did he ask to see anything?
Jenatt shook her head. He said he was going to wait for Thonoy, even after I told
him he said he was dropping by the plant before he came home.
So Verot s going to be here for a while.
Jenatt nodded. He wants holorem.
Of course he does, Bosaru muttered. Listen, don t tell him I m here. Give him a
good meal.
His room off the kitchen was clean and neat, with the usual items under the bed
that accumulated in an unused room. Bosaru pulled out the boxes one by one, blowing
off the dust, with the dust layers growing thicker and thicker as he went farther and
farther back.
The box he had in mind was shoved to the back, a little squished at the edges. At
the top was the notation To be moved last, which made no sense and complete sense
at the same time finally. It was closed with sealer and a lock that wasn t locked.
He prized off the top with his fingertips, taking care not to jar the box.
Would he recognize it if he saw it?
Bosaru had seen viz-images of the oscillator corrosive, dozens of them, but the
device had been stolen before he joined the Secret Sciences Police. It had long been
assumed destroyed, consumed in the same conflagration as Neotia Prime itself. At least
formally.
The top unsealed, with a gentle little thwop! Bosaru froze for a moment, but when
nothing happened, he gingerly set aside the top and peered inside.
White cotton padding.
He brushed aside the top layer, then peeled the succeeding layers away, one by one.
When finally his fingers touched something solid, he stopped again. Then he peeled
back the last layer.
You re alive, you Neoti son of a cur, Bosaru heard behind him. He turned.
140
Echoes of Passion
Verot was leaning against the doorjamb, casually blowing on a chunk of piping-hot
holorem. He didn t look surprised. I would have thought falling off the cab would have
done it.
You thought wrong, Bosaru said. He stayed still, didn t move his hands, either to
take out the oscillator corrosive or lunge for his weapons kit.
Verot wasn t wearing a weapons belt, but he could have something tucked in at the
small of his back. Bosaru couldn t tell. And he wasn t going to make a move until he
knew, one way or another.
The holorem was apparently cool enough to eat, because Verot chomped down on
one end and started to chew. You re a stubborn one, but I can t fault you for your
taste, he said. He grinned before he bit into the other end and took a deep breath,
smiling. Excellent holorem. My niece is a lovely morsel. Her mother was, too. No
accounting for taste, marrying my brother. Too bad.
She s the only living relative you ve got left, Bosaru said. He was acutely aware
that his entire stash of weaponry was sitting on the bed behind him. She could have
found someone in the government you didn t have connections with, made sure they
knew you were alive. But she didn t.
Don t be a fool. She would have in a second if she could have figured out who she
could trust, Verot said, taking another bite. She couldn t even trust her own Dame
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