Traces of Doubt

2. Unveiled

Everyone sitting in the large restaurant area was entitled to their own peace, thanks to a magnificent combination of brilliantly designed acoustics, strategically placed loudspeakers and clever interior design. Whether sitting at one of the tables scattered in the middle of the area, in one of the semi-separated enclosures or in a little niche, you could be certain that your privacy was respected. The air was afloat with soothing music that nearly drowned the hum of conversation. This was one of the favorite haunts of the stylish clientele that inhabited Hotel Laguna, one of the biggest and poshest of TerraFour's numerous establishments that offered accommodation and entertainment to the affluent hordes flocking to the interplanetary Number One holiday resort.

Juri relaxed in his pleasantly cushioned seat and fingered the stem of his wineglass with strong, narrow fingers. His gaze kept sweeping around the enormous restaurant, in the futile hope that something would kindly break his tedium at last, but it met with nothing that merited anything but passing interest. Oh, it was a nice experience to spend some time here, to saunter among the rich and famous and watch their antics, and also to enjoy at least some of the countless services available. However, he was supposed to be here on business, and after one and a half weeks his elusive quarry still hadn't materialized.

The lack of incentive was making him fidgety. Costly time was seeping through his fingers, costly both in terms of money and what might be happening while he was idling here. He'd maintained communication with his superiors, as frequent as he dared, but even from that quarter there'd been no word of possible changes in plans. As far as they knew, everything was proceeding as it should, and yet the infuriating man Juri was supposed to be spying on was nowhere around.

That might mean that the Union had already managed to intercept him without the rebels catching wind of it. Or perhaps the man had, against all expectations, decided not to come himself but use someone else instead to trade his precious data. Someone Juri had no information of but the Union knew well enough. Someone who, for all he knew, might even be in this same room right now!

It could be either one of the flashy thirty-something couple who were toasting and flirting openly with each other, smack in the middle of the restaurant; the sandy-blond man in a dashing dark green suit, the woman in a figure-licking copper-orange creation by some fancy fashion house. It could be one of the half-dozen young men in outrageous costumes and hairdos, probably a pop band or something, who were celebrating raucously in one of the 'cabinets' to one side, their laughter wafting as far as Juri's ears every few minutes. It could be the respectable-looking elderly gentleman immersed in the company of his portable book and a glass of brandy. It could be...

Just about anybody, Juri admitted to himself and shrugged minutely inside his chic suit jacket. If there was one thing he hated, it was waiting. That was really rather curious, considering how much of his job consisted of precisely that, but maybe it was exactly the reason for his dislike? He had to school himself into passivity so often that whenever he had the choice, he opted for action. He'd tried out some of the numerous activities that TerraFour was so proud of, and enjoyed them all. He just couldn't afford to get too involved into anything, though, lest the man he was waiting for managed to slip in without him noticing it.

Besides, he had to be careful of the more physical things, exactly what he most enjoyed. It wouldn't do if he broke a leg on the ski slopes or knocked himself out when scuba diving. The Wolves would never forgive him. Juri winced at the thought.

"We need the information he possesses." Quenty's dark eyes glowed with determination. "If the Union gets their hands on it, we're in bigger trouble than any one of us could even imagine. You must get it, by whatever means."

Juri nodded in silence. "I'll get it."

His self-assurance was not based on nothing, and they all knew it. He was one of the best spies the Ashanti Wolves had ever managed to recruit.

"Don't endanger yourself unnecessarily." Bonita's dark voice matched perfectly her tall stature, geometrically cut jet-black hair and statuesque features. "We need to get the data here, and that won't happen if you get yourself killed in the process."

Quentham Oyston looked at her in grudging admission for a moment before turning once more to Juri. "She's right. But be quick."

Juri nodded again and turned around, knowing that he'd been dismissed. He wasn't many steps out of the door, however, before a hand on his shoulder stopped him again.

"Have some fun, too."

The wry amusement on Bonita's face was a common enough treat to the Wolves, but something that Quenty rarely got to see. He was probably too uptight to notice it, or maybe he just chose to overlook it because it was usually caused by something he'd said or done.

"It's a place for fun, and you need to blend in. Though you hardly need me to remind you of the fact, Chameleon."

Juri grinned to her and was gratified to see the faint smirk spreading into a broad smile.

"I will," he said. "Work can be a pleasure, sometimes."

Juri sighed for the tenth time in about as many minutes. He was getting bored and edgy. Watching the other customers of the hotel was fun, but only up to a point. The Laguna boasted several different restaurants, but by now he'd spent time in each one of them and was already beginning to recognize some faces. New arrivals were also rather easy to spot, especially the ones that were here for their first time; the slightly dazed look on their faces usually told everything. He'd already seen at least three obviously newlywed couples who'd thrown together all their savings to spend a little honeymoon on TerraFour, and thought them especially cute.

One of those couples was right then entering the restaurant, hand in hand: a very young-looking man with a diminutive, doll-like woman, both adorably shy as they faced a stylish, immaculately polite waiter, and yet Juri could see that they were loving every second. So sweet, Juri crooned to himself as his gaze followed the couple to a nicely sheltered table where they seated themselves and beamed enthusiastically at the smiling waiter. Nothing like personal service to make people feel pampered.

Yes, Hotel Laguna was one of the places that took that particular maxim seriously. It was brimming with personnel, although personally Juri could've well lived with much fewer of them because they were honestly just making his work that much more difficult. But on the other hand, they offered some additional challenge and there was nothing like challenge to add spice to life, to give that little extra touch of pizzazz...

He caught something out of the ordinary in his peripheral vision, and slowly turned his head to search for whatever it was. Thank goodness for any distraction, for his thoughts were drifting again into a loop! There it was, in another niche, nearly straight opposite to him and rather near to the newly arrived young couple. He couldn't see it too well, but he saw the two people sitting on the opposite sides of a small table, their bodies mostly hidden behind plants and furniture.

The one on the right, from Juri's vantage point, had just bent over the table and was clutching his head with both hands, face hidden, fingers splayed as if he were trying to dig them into his scalp. Juri watched with interest, a frown creeping on his face. A suit-clad arm was raised across the table to touch the young man's shoulder but he recoiled from the touch, shook his head weakly, face still downcast and invisible behind his hands and blond bangs hanging over them.

The other person sitting at the table stood up and stepped out of the niche, bent down a little, obviously to say something to the other one. Juri couldn't see the reaction because the man's body concealed his companion from sight, and also because an alarmed waiter had already spotted the disturbance and scurried to the spot. The man in dark suit turned to say something to the waiter who nodded, looking worriedly at the person sitting in the niche. Then the man reached down and pulled his companion up.

A young man, Juri observed, dressed in an understated but very flattering dark blue suit. He didn't seem too steady on his feet, though, and Juri made a disapproving sound in his throat. That drunk at this hour, really now, what's his friend thinking about, letting him get so sodden –

His thoughts were interrupted, when the young man lurched forward and nearly fell down but was rapidly caught by the man in the dark suit. Pain, registered in Juri's mind as the older man collected the other one, by now visibly trembling, into his arms. He's hurting badly.

The golden blond head sank wearily against the taller man's shoulder, and Juri caught a glimpse of the young man's face. He immediately decided that he could well have done without. It was a heartbreakingly beautiful face but now distorted with pain, eyes scrunched tightly shut. The other man dismissed the waiter with a nod before walking his companion slowly out of the restaurant, one arm protectively around his shoulders.

Juri sank back into his seat and tried to stop his head from reeling. A tiny flash, a few seconds really, and all of his senses had jumped into hyperdrive.

Two men, an older and a younger one? The younger obviously suffering from a sudden, massive headache? Now, where had he quite recently witnessed something rather similar?

He emptied his glass as casually as he could, eyes following the pair until the door, then stood up in one fluid motion and sauntered off with practiced deliberation. A word to the waiter ensured that his bill would be invoiced together with his room, and then he was in the corridor. Just in time to see the two men disappear behind a bend in the smoothly curving wall.

In Hotel Laguna, no corridor was quite straight. They twisted and meandered, blending and melting into small areas for sitting down and into other equally curvy corridors, something Juri had found alternately infuriating and infinitely convenient. Right now he opted for the latter, because the bulges on the walls meant that he could trail behind the two men, just out of sight but hearing enough to judge where they were headed.

Finally they reached their destination and the door closed behind the two men. Juri sighed internally. Just as he'd guessed, it was the suite next to his own. The one outside which he'd landed, a couple of days earlier, after he'd been to check the rooms of a new visitor who'd looked suspiciously like a badly camouflaged version of the man he was waiting for. Of course the suspect had been a perfectly ordinary holiday-maker instead, only with somewhat dubious taste in literature...

Juri sat down into a large armchair and took a deep breath. He'd been on these men's terrace to hear that conversation, the one over which he'd now been puzzling several times.

"You're an idiot," he informed himself aloud.

After a few nervous minutes in the chair he couldn't take it any more, and jumped on his feet. His target had not appeared – very well then, at least he'd keep his skills freshly honed by spying on the intriguing twosome in the neighboring suite. Decision made, Juri entered his room, wiggled into his black body suit and grabbed his equipment. Time for some exercise.

He stepped to his own terrace and looked around. There was nobody in sight, and he didn't need to worry about the suite to his right. Even the outer walls of the building were bulging and curving, so that even if one could see the terrace or balcony next to one's own, it was definitely impossible to see the ones beyond it. Within a few minutes Juri was back on the neighboring terrace, and he nearly whistled to himself in glee when he spotted the open door. Jackpot! Now he just needed to get to the other side, there he'd close to the heavy, decorative railing as well as the door. That'd let him hear at least moderately well what was going inside, and yet he'd have an easy escape route, in case either of them should happen to come outside.

"... better?" That was the older man's voice, it sounded like he was pacing back and forth, not too far away from the door.

"A little." Damn, the young man spoke with such a quiet, soft voice that al though he was obviously sitting right next to the door, not full three meters from Juri, he was still barely audible. "This headache is driving me crazy."

"It won't be long any more, Salvador. Just concentrate."

"But Calvin, I can't do this. I'm not sure... that I remember everything."

"What do you mean, remember? Of course you 'remember', you've known him for a couple of years now!" The man's voice rose incredulously. "Of course you remember what you've lived through yourself!"

"But I can't! I can't remember all those things you say I should!" The voice became muffled, as if the young man had buried his face in hands. "I'm not sure I know him as well as I... as I should."

A furious huff followed the statement and the steps stopped.

"Salvador. Listen to me. And look at me when I'm talking to you!" The man stopped for a while, then continued a little more calmly. "You've known Claus Orcagna for more than two years. You're one of his closest friends. You're here, and not him, because he's involved in something that he couldn't leave behind..."

Juri's ears were ringing so loud that the rest of the stern speech was nearly lost on him. His slanted eyes narrowed as he gripped the railing, knuckles turning white inside the black gloves. What the hell is going on? Claus Orcagna has been dead for more than a year!

He forced his breathing under control in order to cool down. Think rationally, he ordered himself. Better, now. He harbored no doubt about it: there was only one good, plausible reason why the two men inside the room were here, and that reason had to be called Michel Orcagna – the very same reason that had prompted Juri to arrive.

So he was actually hanging outside the room of the Union contacts the man was supposed to meet here? What a marvelously convenient stroke of luck, Juri thought smugly. Now I know exactly who else I must keep my eyes on. I must get the man before these two do.

But the mention of the brilliant scientist's disappeared son intrigued him. What was this talk about Claus? The rebels knew with certainty that the disappearance of Orcagna Junior, himself a highly promising scientist despite his young age, had been orchestrated by the Ziroshel Union. They also knew with near certainty that Claus was dead, something not too many people were aware of. Obviously the young man's father was not among those few well-informed, and the Union was going to play that trump card for all it was worth. And, if persuasion didn't pay off, they would still have option of blackmail. If Orcagna believed his son to be still alive, he could be pushed to remarkable lengths.

But how the hell were they going to convince him? No matter how fervently he might want to believe, the scientist wouldn't be swayed without some pretty strong evidence. Apparently, that would somehow be supplied by Salvador, the young man inside the room.

Outside the room, Juri corrected himself and quickly dissolved into the darkness as the said young man suddenly stepped out of the door and walked tiredly to the other end of the terrace. His hands were shaking as he lowered them on the railing, shoulders sagging and head hanging. This time Juri was in a better position and he cautiously peered towards the slim figure. The man was mouth-wateringly beautiful, all smooth lines and liquid grace, clean-cut profile just visible under those golden bangs.

Juri's eyebrows drew together. There was something familiar about that face, but he simply knew he couldn't have seen the man before. He'd never, ever have forgotten it if he had.

"Salvador, come inside. You must rest."

The older man, Calvin, was standing in the doorframe, sounding irritable. Salvador raised his head and turned to look at him with listless eyes.

Juri's heart stopped for a moment when he got his first good, direct look at the young man. Suddenly he knew with frightening clarity where he'd seen a face like that before: on Ashanti, looking at the pictures their allies had sent.

He's a T-clone. Juri swore furiously in his mind. I don't know exactly what they're planning to do, but this proves it. The Union is hell bent on getting Orcagna's data. This might prove even trickier than I anticipated.

"Yes, Calvin." Salvador's voice was dull and lifeless as his posture as he walked obediently back into the room and closed the door behind him.