MishAH said, “This Paolo person knows exactly where
we are. He could report us at any moment and our time here would be over.”
No one spoke for some time. Finally DaneelAH said, “But
he hasn’t, so it’s probable that either we have something he wants – or he has
something we’ll want.”
“What could we have that he wants?” HanAH said,
shrugging irritably. He swung his arms hard, then grabbed his hands behind his
back.
“We might not have anything he wants. But he may
want to give something to us. Something that would bring Mayor Turin over to
his side or induce the Mayor to…to…” said AzAH.
“Do something for him,” said MishAH. “Do something
like send him on a mission to get the rest of the proof. The…bones, perhaps? Or
artifacts?”
DaneelAH pursed his lips then said softly – as
softly as he could over the low-pitched roar of the Dome’s mall, “Maybe both.
If this Paolo has the proof Mayor Turin has been after all these years, there’s
no telling what the Mayor would do for our new master.”
“The only thing he could want is information. In
that case all he would have to do is capture us and torture us to get what he
wants from the Mayor,” said HanAH.
AzAH shook her head. “The information he’d be
looking for would be too precise to extract it that way. It would need to be
accurate – and untwisted by us. Torture is too likely to distort whatever
information he’s looking for.”
“What could Mayor Turin want that he wasn’t able to
get from us after he captured us?” said DaneelAH.
“Something we didn’t know then – and have learned
since,” said MishAH. She locked gazes with DaneelAH.
“What are you staring at me? If there was data to
be gathered covertly, it would be HanAH’s purview.”
All three vatmates turned to HanAH. He shrugged, “I
have no idea what you’re talking about.”
MishAH squeezed her lips with her right thumb and
forefinger, then said, “Not consciously at any rate.” She paused, “I think you
possess a key piece of information in this whole puzzle. For some reason, we’re
linked to this Paolo. We don’t know anything else about him except that he’s a
Christian and is underground. We’ve never heard of him...”
DaneelAH held up a finger, silencing the group. “More
or less true – but he’s connected with a network of underground Christians here
and maybe other places.”
“How can you know that?” MishAH exclaimed.
“Because we’re here and no one appears to be the
wiser. We haven’t been met by force – in fact, even though we’ve apparently be
brought here specifically. In fact,” he turned slowly, “no one seems to be
interested in us at all.” He gestured to the crowds streaming all around them,
parting then reforming as if the matched set of vatmates was a rock set in a
stream of intelligence.
HanAH crouched slightly. AzAH, DaneelAH, and MishAH
smiled. “What?”
“You always crouch when you think someone’s
watching you,” said MishAH.
“I do not!” he exclaimed.
“Yes, you do,” said AzAH and DaneelAH together.
DaneelAH added, “But only when you’re around us. In your usual Mayoral
capacity, you don’t hunch.” He paused, “Not so that anyone who doesn’t know you
as well as we do would notice.”
“So, what’s making you hunch?” said MishAH.
A young blue boy appeared out of the crowd, looked
up at DaneelAH and said, “You’re new here, aren’t you?
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