First Reply The Long Way Home

[Liin Terallo]

I had spent years trying to convince other people that New Cov was worth saving. Governors. Scientists. Military officials. Nobles. Representatives of organizations whose names carried considerably more weight than mine ever had. I had spoken to them carefully. Presented evidence. Discussed logistics. Explained the dangers of the occupation and the consequences of leaving it unchallenged. I had asked for assistance. And I had waited.

For a long time, I had convinced myself that patience was wisdom. That gathering enough support would eventually make the difference between a successful liberation and another catastrophe. But sitting alone in a dimly lit establishment on a world I had no particular reason to care about, I was beginning to wonder whether I had simply been afraid.

My little companion rested against my shoulder, tucked partially beneath the collar of my jacket. He had grown accustomed to travelling with me over the years, but even he seemed to recognize that something was different tonight. His tiny head occasionally lifted as unfamiliar voices passed nearby, his dark eyes following strangers before disappearing beneath the fabric again.

I absently touched his back. "I know," I murmured. He gave a quiet chirp. "I don't like it either."

My attention returned to the datapad lying on the table before me. There was very little on it's screen. A list of transports. A handful of names. Two potential contacts. And one address. None of it was particularly reassuring.

The problem was simple enough. I needed to get home. Yet the solution was considerably less so. New Cov had changed since I had left. The access codes I had once known were useless now. Security protocols had been replaced. The systems that I had helped design were no longer mine to access, and attempting to use the old credentials would accomplish little beyond informing the occupying authorities that someone with my particular knowledge had returned.

I couldn't simply walk into one of the domed cities. I couldn't even guarantee that I could approach one safely. So I needed someone who could get me there without asking too many questions. Someone capable of falsifying an identity. A smuggler, perhaps. A forger. Someone who specialized in making people disappear.

The irony wasn't lost on me. For years, I had worked very hard to make sure that nobody could find me. Now I was paying someone to make sure they couldn't find me again.

I glanced down at my hands. They looked exactly as they always had. No weapon. No armor. No uniform. Just a scientist who had spent far too long pretending that laboratories could solve problems that belonged to people. I had brought enough credits to make the arrangement worthwhile, though I suspected that money alone wouldn't be enough. Criminals were rarely motivated by credits when information was worth more. And I had a great deal of information. The trick would be convincing them that I wasn't worth turning in.

I looked across the establishment once more. Most of the people here had no reason to know who I was. I intended to keep it that way. New Cov didn't need an army. It didn't need another politician making promises on its behalf. It had survived before. It's people had fought for their independence before. Perhaps they could do it again. Perhaps they were already trying.

My fingers tightened slightly around the edge of the datapad. The thought of seeing my home again should have brought comfort. Instead, it frightened me. What if my family was gone? What if the Underground didn't want me? What if they remembered exactly who had helped design the systems that had eventually been compromised? What if they looked at me and only saw the person responsible? I swallowed quietly. Those were questions I couldn't answer from here. And for the first time in years, I wasn't going to wait for someone else to answer them for me.

I closed the datapad. Then I glanced toward the establishment's entrance as another group entered, my attention lingering for a moment before returning to my companion. "One way or another," I whispered, "I'm going home." The little creature chirped softly. I smiled faintly. "And preferably without being arrested before I get there." That, I decided, was probably the first problem I needed to solve.

 

[Pax Velloran]

A Third Name

Pax Velloran | Last-Minute Referral

Pax received the message less than an hour before he entered the establishment. Someone in his growing collection of contacts had heard about a prospective client looking for discreet passage to New Cov, along with identification that would survive more than a casual inspection. Apparently she already had two possible contacts. The message ended with a simple question: Mind if I give her a third?

Pax had agreed.

Somewhere between then and now, a short message should have reached her datapad. Whoever sent it knew better than to offer elaborate assurances or make promises on Pax's behalf. It contained only a name, a contact frequency, and three words beneath it.

Identification. Transit. Discretion.

Whether she had actually seen it yet was another matter.

Pax took a moment to survey the establishment after entering. The description he'd been given was basic, but the small creature tucked against the woman's shoulder removed most of the uncertainty. He crossed the room without hurrying, making no particular effort to disguise where he was headed. People trying too hard to look discreet usually accomplished the opposite.

He stopped beside the empty chair across from her. "Pax Velloran."

His attention shifted briefly toward the closed datapad on the table before returning to her. "My name may have appeared on there recently. Very recently."

He left the chair where it was rather than assuming an invitation to sit. Pax knew enough to understand the general nature of the request and little more. New Cov was involved. Discreet transportation was involved. Forged credentials probably were as well. Everything beyond that belonged to the person sitting across from him, which was preferable. People tended to become less cooperative when strangers arrived already knowing too much.

"I was told you're looking for someone who can arrange discreet transportation." His tone remained easy, without any suggestion that he expected confirmation. "If that's not the case, someone has wasted both our time."

The faintest hint of amusement touched his expression as he glanced toward the chair.

"If it is, then we may have something to discuss."

 

[Liin Terallo]

I studied the man for a moment before answering. Not because I was uncertain about his identity. His name had indeed appeared on my datapad. I just simply preferred to verify that fact before allowing myself to relax.

My fingers reached for the datapad and activated the screen again. I scrolled through the messages until I found the brief communication that had arrived earlier. Pax Velloran. My eyes lingered on the name for another second before I looked back at him. "So it did." There was a faint note of relief in my voice, though I made no effort to hide it. I gestured toward the empty chair across from me. "Please. Sit."

As he moved to take the seat, my little companion stirred against my shoulder. He had been remarkably quiet since Pax approached. Now, however, he slowly unfolded himself from beneath my collar and climbed onto the tabletop. His appearance then began to change. It was subtle at first. The soft, somewhat indistinct shape of his body hardened as layers of darker material formed across his back. Small ridges emerged along his sides. His limbs lengthened slightly, while several tiny projections appeared along his body in something resembling defensive spines. Even his head altered, becoming narrower as a pair of delicate mandibles formed near his mouth. He clicked them once. Then again shortly thereafter.

I glanced down at him. "You're being dramatic."

Another click was made. A tiny, armored creature stared across the table at Pax.

I sighed softly. "I apologize. He's usually more welcoming."

My biomass companion remained exactly where it was, apparently unconvinced that an apology was sufficient reason to lower it's guard.

My attention returned to Pax. "Discreet transportation is, indeed, what I'm looking for. And identification that can withstand more than a cursory inspection would be extremely useful." I folded my hands together on the table. "But I suspect that you've already gathered that." He had information. I had information. The important part was determining how much either of us was willing to share.

"I've had two other possibilities presented to me," I continued. "Neither has been ruled out. But I was told that you might be able to offer something they cannot." My gaze remained on him. "So before I make any decisions, perhaps you could tell me what makes your arrangement different." I glanced briefly toward the datapad. "Reliability would be useful. Discretion even more so." My eyes returned to Pax. "And if you happen to be the sort of person who understands that some clients have reasons for travelling that they would rather not discuss...." A faint and almost apologetic smile touched my lips. "....then I suspect that we may get along rather well."

I didn't mention New Cov. I didn't even mention why I needed to get there. And I certainly didn't mention my name. Not yet. Instead, I sat quietly across from him, waiting to discover whether Pax Velloran was actually the solution that I had been looking for; or simply another stranger offering me a different way to disappear.

Tag: Pax Velloran

 

[Pax Velloran]

A Third Name | Terms of Passage

Pax Velloran | Initial Consultation | Liin Terallo

Pax accepted the invitation and pulled the chair out. By the time he settled into it, the small creature on the table had apparently decided it didn't like him.

He regarded it for a moment. That seemed reasonable.

"No apology necessary." His attention returned to her. "I'd be more concerned if it trusted strangers immediately."

Pax reached inside his coat and produced a slim cigarra and lighter, setting the latter near his drink while keeping the cigarra between two fingers. He made no move to light it.

"Do you mind?"

He left the question with her and listened as she explained what she needed and, just as importantly, what she preferred not to discuss. That part didn't trouble him. People rarely came to Pax because they wanted more people involved.

"Then whoever gave you my name understood the assignment."

He leaned back slightly. "Most people doing this will sell you an identity and put you on a ship. Sometimes they'll arrange someone at the other end. The problem is that the same person usually knows all three pieces."

His eyes moved briefly toward the datapad before returning to her.

"I prefer to keep them separate. Whoever provides your documentation doesn't need to know where you're going. Whoever transports you doesn't need your real name. If someone has to help you through the other end, they only know what they need to recognize when you arrive."

Pax paused. "If one part goes wrong, it doesn't immediately compromise the rest."

That was the practical difference. It didn't make the arrangement safe, but it limited how much damage any one mistake could do.

"As for reliability, that depends on what you're asking me to get you through. I won't promise something before I know whether it can actually be done." His tone remained conversational. "Discretion is easier. I don't need to know why you're travelling unless the reason changes the risks involved."

He paused, then added, "And you don't need to give me your name yet."

That was information he might eventually need. It wasn't information he needed now.

"I need the destination, how you expect to enter, and what kind of attention we're trying to avoid." A faint smile touched his expression. "Then I can tell you what I can actually offer."

 

[Liin Terallo]

I glanced briefly at the cigarra between his fingers before shaking my head. "No, I don't mind." Others had smoked around me often enough that the smell barely registered anymore. My attention returned to him as he explained how he preferred to separate the different parts of an arrangement. The more he spoke, the more I found myself quietly reassessing him. There was something reassuring about compartmentalization. It meant that he understood something I had learned rather painfully over the years: information became dangerous when too many people possessed it.

"I think that I understand." My fingers rested lightly against the edge of my datapad. "And I appreciate that you don't require my name yet. I've had enough experience with people who believe that knowing everything about someone makes them better equipped to help them."

My little companion remained on the tabletop between us, it's altered form still decidedly more insect than mammal. One tiny mandible clicked again as it continued studying Pax.

I glanced down at it. "He'll probably become less suspicious eventually....Probably."

I then looked back toward Pax. "As for the destination..." I hesitated for only a moment. "New Cov." Those words were quietly spoken. I didn't elaborate immediately. Instead, I watched him carefully, waiting to see whether the name itself changed anything in his expression. "I'm not going to Ilic City." That seemed important enough to establish. "It's too obvious." My fingertip moved absently across the surface of my datapad as I brought up a rough map of New Cov's domed settlements. I didn't enlarge it enough to expose anything particularly sensitive, but enough to indicate the general arrangement of the cities. "I need to enter through one of the adjacent domes." I tapped the screen lightly. "The problem is that I don't have the current access codes." My expression remained calm, although the admission carried a quiet frustration. "I have the old ones. They aren't useful anymore." I looked back toward Pax. "So the first thing I'd need is a way through the dome itself. After that, I would need to pass customs without attracting attention. Once I'm inside, I can manage the rest." That last statement was deliberately vague.

There were people on New Cov who might still remember me for the loyal Covie that I am. People that I hoped were still alive. People that I needed to find before I could safely reveal that I had returned.

"And then..." I folded my hands together. "...I need to disappear for a little while." Not permanently. Just long enough to determine who could be trusted. "My intention is to remain somewhere quiet until I can establish contact with people I know there. I don't want to arrive and immediately start asking questions or drawing attention to myself." I looked toward the little creature again. "That would rather defeat the purpose of travelling discreetly."

The creature clicked it's mandibles once more.

"Yes," I murmured to it. "I know."

My gaze returned to Pax. "There is one other complication. I can't simply present myself as someone returning home." For the first time, something guarded entered my expression. "At least, not yet." I left the reason unexplained. Instead, I met his gaze steadily. "If you can arrange the documentation, the transportation, and the access necessary to get me into one of the domes without connecting all three pieces to the same identity..." I paused. "Then I believe that we may have something worth discussing." A small smile appeared. "And if you can accomplish all of that without asking questions that you don't need answered..." My eyes flicked briefly toward his cigarra before returning to him. "...then I suspect that your services may be precisely what I've been looking for."

Tag: Pax Velloran

 

[Pax Velloran]

A Third Name | Terms of Passage

Pax Velloran | Initial Consultation | Liin Terallo

Pax gave a small nod, lit the cigarra and set the lighter beside his hand. He kept the smoke angled away from the table as she spoke, listening without interruption until she finally named the destination.

New Cov.

That made the job more complicated, but not impossible. Pax glanced toward the map on her datapad while she explained the old access codes, customs and the need to disappear once she was inside.

"Keep the codes."

He tapped a little ash from the cigarra.

"They don't have to open anything anymore. I want to know how they were built. Format, access levels, issuing authority. If any part of the old system survived whatever replaced it, that gives me somewhere to start."

Pax nodded toward the datapad. "Send me a copy. Remove anything you don't want me to have first."

The rest was easier to put into order. She needed a believable reason to enter one of the domes before she needed a believable name.

"We don't start with the identity. We start with the route." Pax leaned back slightly. "A contractor, supplier, technician, someone attached to commercial traffic. Something ordinary enough that their presence makes sense before anyone bothers looking closely at the person carrying the credentials."

Passenger traffic would be the obvious answer. Pax wasn't particularly interested in obvious answers.

"I'd rather hide you inside something that already moves through the dome regularly than invent a reason for a stranger to arrive by herself."

He took another short pull from the cigarra and looked back toward the map.

"Ilic City is out. Pick two of the remaining domes you'd be willing to use. I'll find out what kind of traffic moves through them, what replaced those access codes, and which one gives us the least complicated way through."

That gave him enough to begin making calls. The forged identity could wait until he knew what sort of person actually belonged on the route.

"Once we have that, I'll find the transportation and build the documentation around it. Whoever takes you there won't need your real name, and whoever handles the papers won't need to know what happens after customs."

Pax rested the cigarra between two fingers and regarded her for a moment.

"Send me the codes. Give me two domes."

His eyes moved briefly toward the map before returning to her.

"Then decide how far you want my involvement to go. I can get you through the door, or I can make sure you have somewhere to disappear after it."

A faint smile touched his expression.

"Those are two different jobs."

 

[Liin Terallo]

I considered his offer in silence for several moments. The distinction he had drawn was a sensible one. Getting through the door and remaining unnoticed afterward were two entirely different problems. Under ordinary circumstances, I might have preferred to solve them separately. Fewer people involved generally meant fewer opportunities for something to go wrong. But these were not ordinary circumstances. "If you're capable of handling both," I said at last, " think that I'd prefer that."

My fingers moved across the datapad, bringing the map of New Cov back onto the screen. This time I enlarged it considerably more than I had before. "I don't particularly like the idea of being stranded outside the domes while someone decides whether my credentials are convincing enough to let me inside." A faint, somewhat rueful smile touched my lips. "The forests are not especially hospitable. And hiding in them for several days would be considerably more dangerous than finding somewhere inside the cities where I could disappear."

I glanced briefly toward my little companion. He had apparently decided that Pax remained sufficiently suspicious to warrant continued observation. His armored form shifted slightly as he moved closer to the edge of the datapad, mandibles clicking once before he settled again.

"He's correct, unfortunately," I murmured. My attention returned to the map. "There are two possibilities that I'd be willing to consider." I tapped the first location.

Liitius. The dome here has an associated transport facility. There's an STS terminal in a separate pod, with underground maglev connections into the main facility and connections toward other domes." I paused, considering the implications. "That could be useful. A place receiving legitimate cargo, personnel, technicians and suppliers already has a reason for strangers to arrive. It wouldn't require inventing an entirely new pattern of movement." The fact that the Liitius facility had been constructed around an old out-colony of Illic City was another detail I remembered, though I didn't immediately volunteer everything I knew. The facility's transportation network was designed precisely to move personnel and supplies between the dome and the wider network of New Cov settlements.

I shifted the map again. "The second would be the neighboring dome." I indicated the location with one finger. "It's close enough to provide another route without putting us directly into Ilic City. I'd prefer to have an alternative in case one of the routes has become more heavily monitored than expected." I looked up at him. "I can send you the maps. And the old access information."

I smiled faintly at his earlier request. "Don't worry. I won't send you anything that I would consider genuinely sensitive. I don't keep those things on my datapad." I tapped the side of the satchel resting beside me. "My notebooks such as these are considerably less convenient."

There was a touch of humor in that statement, though it faded as my attention returned to the map. "As for the old access codes..." I pulled up the information that I still possessed. "They were issued under the previous system. I don't expect them to work. But the structure may still be useful. Authorization levels. Formatting. Issuing authority. Anything that tells you how the system was designed rather than simply what the old credentials looked like."

I looked back toward Pax. "And if you can determine which of those two cities offers the cleaner route, I'll defer to your judgment." That was not something that I had said lightly. I'd spent years studying systems. I understood their architecture. I understood infrastructure, security, logistics and the way organizations tended to behave when confronted with an unexpected variable. What I did not understand nearly as well was the criminal underworld. Pax clearly did.

"I'd also prefer to stay inside the dome once we've arrived," I continued. "Somewhere inconspicuous. I need time before I make contact with anyone I know." My expression grew slightly more guarded. "I don't want anyone realizing that I've returned until I'm certain of who is still there." That was the part I could not explain to him. Not yet. There were too many possibilities waiting for me on the other side of those walls. Friends. Enemies. Family. People who might remember me fondly. People who might remember me for entirely different reasons. And I had no intention of discovering which was which by announcing my arrival to an entire city.

"I'll need perhaps several days," I added. "Maybe longer, depending on what I find." My gaze remained fixed on the map. "So yes." I finally looked back toward him. "If you can arrange both parts of the journey, I'd rather have you handle both." A faint smile appeared with a touch of humor in it. "Besides, if you're going to manufacture a stranger and then transport her into a heavily secured city, it seems only sensible that you should know where she's supposed to disappear afterward."

I glanced down at the little biomass creature. He clicked his mandibles. "Apparently he agrees."

Tag: Pax Velloran

 

[Pax Velloran]

A Third Name | Terms of Passage

Pax Velloran | Initial Consultation | Liin Terallo

Pax studied the terminal on her map for a few seconds longer. On paper, Liitius made the better starting point. The separate transport facility gave him legitimate traffic to work with, and legitimate traffic meant people whose presence didn't have to be explained from scratch. What actually passed through the terminal now was another question.

"I'd start here," he said, indicating Liitius. "That isn't the same as saying we use it. I need to know what's moving through the terminal now, who gets checked on the way in, and how much of that process changed with whoever currently controls the dome."

The neighboring settlement could remain the alternative until he knew enough to compare them properly. Pax had no particular interest in selecting a route because it looked convenient on somebody else's map.

He tapped a little ash from the cigarra and glanced toward the old access information she'd brought up. There was enough there to recognize structure, but not enough that he intended to pretend he understood what had survived whatever replaced it.

"Send me these too."

Pax nodded toward the codes. "I know someone who'll be better at telling me whether there's anything useful left in them than I am. I don't need the codes to work. I need to know whether the new system was built on top of the old one, or whether we're looking at two completely different systems."

There was something else in what she'd told him, though Pax left it alone. She knew the layout of New Cov's settlements, remembered how Liitius had been connected to the surrounding transport network and possessed access information old enough to predate whatever currently controlled the domes. None of that necessarily told him who she was, but it did tell him that New Cov wasn't merely a destination she'd selected from a map. She had asked him not to ask questions he didn't need answered, and for the moment none of those details changed the job.

"If the terminal still handles ordinary commercial traffic, that's where I'll start. I'll find out what actually moves through it now before we decide what you're supposed to be. Supplier, contractor, technician, freight personnel—it doesn't matter yet."

He glanced briefly toward the small armored creature still occupying part of the table.

"And if he's coming with you, I need to account for him too."

Pax looked back to her.

"There is one thing I do need to know."

He rested the cigarra against the edge of the ashtray.

"Am I hiding your name, or am I hiding you?"

The distinction was important enough that he let the question sit for a moment before elaborating.

"If somebody runs the name on your documentation, that's one problem. If a camera, biometric reader or security system can identify you regardless of what the paperwork says, that's another. I don't need to know what they'll find or why they'd recognize you. I just need to know whether that's something I have to build around."

The same applied once she was inside. Several days meant more than finding an empty room and telling her not to answer the door. Whatever identity carried her through Liitius would need somewhere plausible to go afterward, somewhere she could remain without immediately becoming conspicuous when she failed to leave again.

"I'll look at short-term housing, contractor quarters, commercial leases—whatever fits the identity we end up using. Nothing connected to whoever handles the transport or the papers."

Pax took another pull from the cigarra before setting it down.

"That gives you a route in, somewhere to stay and a second route if the first one stops being useful."

A faint trace of amusement crossed his expression.

"After that, disappearing is your problem again."

His eyes returned briefly to the datapad. There were people he could ask about the traffic moving through the terminal, and someone better suited than Pax to make sense of whatever remained in the old access architecture. Neither needed the rest of the job attached to the question. nPax looked back to her.

"I'll start asking around. We can worry about the details once I know what Liitius actually looks like now."

He picked the cigarra back up, turning it once between his fingers while his attention remained on her.

// END RECORD

 

[Liin Terallo]

For several moments, I had remained quiet. His question was simple enough, but the distinction behind it was important. I glanced down at the datapad, then back toward Pax. "Both," I answered. My expression remained composed, though there was a faint shift in my posture as I considered how much of an explanation was actually necessary. "My name isn't the only thing that could identify me."

I rested my hands lightly together on the table. "I've worked on New Cov before. For a considerable amount of time." A small pause followed. "There are people there who would recognize me. Perhaps not everyone, and perhaps not immediately, but enough that simply changing my name wouldn't be sufficient." My gaze dropped briefly toward the table. "Someone could accept my credentials without question and still recognize my face five minutes later." There was a certain irony to that. For years, I had been known because of my work. Now that same history had become something I needed to conceal.

"I don't need to look completely different," I continued. "Just different enough that someone who remembers me won't immediately make the connection." I looked back towards him. "So if you're constructing an identity for me, I'd prefer that the person on the documentation does not look too much like the person sitting across from you." My fingers moved absently along the edge of the datapad. "Hair can be changed. Clothing certainly can. Makeup, facial contouring, perhaps even something as simple as different eyewear." I considered it thoughtfully. "I don't need anything elaborate enough to attract attention. In fact, I'd prefer the opposite. Ordinary is probably safer."

My little companion had been listening to the conversation with what appeared to be considerable interest. His armored form shifted slightly, the small ridges along his back beginning to soften.

I glanced towards him. "And he isn't likely to cause much difficulty." The biomass creature clicked one mandible. "He's very good at changing his appearance." I gave a faint smile. "What he looks like now isn't necessarily what he'll look like tomorrow. Or even five minutes from now."

Almost on cue, his body began to alter again. The dark chitinous plating softened and receded, the little spikes disappearing beneath a smoother surface. His mandibles shortened until they were barely noticeable, and his overall shape became smaller and considerably less threatening. He looked up at Pax. Then he chirped.

I couldn't help but smile. "He can make himself look like a rather unremarkable creature when necessary." I reached out and gently touched one finger against his back. "He'll stay hidden as well. I don't intend to have him wandering around while I'm trying not to be noticed." My attention returned to Pax. "As for the rest..." I nodded toward the datapad. "I can send you everything that I've already shown you. The maps. The old access architecture. Anything else that might help you determine how the current system relates to the previous one." I hesitated briefly. "But I think you're right about Liitius. If there is already legitimate commercial traffic moving through that terminal, that's probably our best opportunity. I'd rather disappear into something ordinary than create a complicated explanation for why I'm there. Scientists aren't particularly good at looking mysterious anyway. I'll leave the identity to you once you know what sort of person needs to exist on that route."

I closed the datapad and slid it slightly across the table, ready to transfer the information. "And if you can arrange somewhere for me to stay afterward, that would be preferable. I don't know exactly how long I'll need to remain hidden." My expression grew more guarded. "I have people I need to find. But I don't intend to contact them until I'm certain it's safe." I met his gaze. "So yes, Pax. Hide my name. And hide me too."

Pax Velloran

 

[Pax Velloran]

A Third Name | Terms of Passage

Pax Velloran | Initial Consultation | Liin Terallo

Both.

Pax gave a small nod, his eyes moving over her again without lingering anywhere for long. Hair first. The line of the jaw. The shape of the glasses she wasn't wearing. Small things, but those were usually what people remembered without realizing they had remembered them.

"Ordinary is better. I don't want to make you look like somebody else. I want to make you look like someone who happens to resemble you."

Hair could change. Clothing certainly could. Different eyewear, a different way of carrying herself, a little careful makeup to alter where the eye settled around the cheekbones and brow. None of it needed to survive close examination forever. It only needed to interrupt recognition long enough for uncertainty to do the rest.

That worked considerably better on an acquaintance than a friend.

"How closely did these people know you?" Pax asked. He let that sit for a moment before his attention shifted briefly toward the datapad. "And how well did their systems know you? Photographs, facial scans, retinal records, medical identification. Anything a new name won't fool."

A forged identity would do very little if the first terminal she encountered already knew the face wearing it.

Movement beside the datapad drew his attention as the little creature's armor softened, spikes receding and mandibles shortening until the thing that had spent most of the meeting looking faintly prepared to bite him had become small, smooth and remarkably uninteresting. Then it chirped.

Pax regarded it for another moment. "Useful. If he can do that when it matters, he doesn't go on the paperwork."

Liin slid the datapad across the table. Pax drew his own closer and opened a local transfer, watching the first files appear almost immediately. Maps. Access architecture. Older authorization structures.

"Liitius, then."

He left it at that. They had already chosen where to start; there was little value in discussing the same decision twice. Pax scrolled through the incoming files instead, slowing only when one of the older authorization records appeared. There would be time later to work out what still resembled the system she remembered and what had been replaced entirely.

The question of where she disappeared afterward was simpler.

"If you've arrived for work, the person on the documentation should already have somewhere to sleep. Nothing memorable. Nothing connected to whoever brings you in. Just somewhere that identity could stay for a week without anybody finding it interesting."

The transfer continued quietly between the two datapads. Pax looked up when she mentioned the people she intended to find, and this time his attention stayed on her a little longer. He did not ask for names.

"Don't contact them before you arrive. Not from an old account, not through somebody you used to trust, and not because you're certain no one is watching." His tone remained easy despite the warning. "If someone on New Cov has reason to notice you coming home, don't give them advance warning."

The last of the files finished transferring. Pax disconnected the datapads and drew his back across the table.

"I'll take care of the route, the identity and somewhere for that identity to go afterward. You decide who you want to find once you're inside." His thumb rested briefly against the edge of the datapad as he met her gaze. "But before I start changing the woman in the picture, I need to know what the systems are comparing her against. Tell me what New Cov already has on you."

 

[Liin Terallo]

For several seconds, I said nothing. Pax's final question was considerably more difficult than the others. Not because I didn't know the answer. But because I knew it rather well.

My eyes lowered toward the datapad between us, though I wasn't really looking at the files anymore. Instead, I was remembering the systems that had once recorded nearly every significant aspect of my life. "I should probably start with the obvious." My voice was quieter now. "New Cov has considerably more on me than a name and a photograph." I folded my hands together. "I held security clearance in both Ilic City and Liitius. Not the sort issued to ordinary personnel. Mine was progressively increased as I moved through the administration." My gaze remained held on the datapad. "I began as a scientist. Then I became involved with the Board of Directors. Eventually, I worked my way through the various ranks until I was selected to lead it." There was something faintly uncomfortable about saying it aloud. "So there will be personnel records. Employment history. Credentials. Security authorizations. Photographs. Likely facial recognition records from various facilities. Access logs. Travel records. Medical identification." I considered the possibilities. "Probably retinal information as well, although I would need to check whether that was integrated into the civilian systems or restricted to higher-security facilities."

I looked up at Pax. "And there will be records of the work that I did. Research. Projects. Publications. Laboratory access. Administrative decisions. People I worked with." A faint crease appeared between my brows. "Enough information that someone who knew where to look could reconstruct quite a lot of my life." My fingers tightened slightly together.

"As for how closely those systems knew me..." I exhaled softly. "Very." I allowed that to sit for a moment. "I had access to facilities where identification wasn't optional. There were places where the system knew who you were before you reached the door. Now, whether those systems still exist in their original form, I don't know. The occupation has had years to replace, modify, or consolidate them." I gave a small, humorless smile. "And I would rather not discover which parts survived by walking into one."

My little companion shifted quietly beside me. I reached out and stroked his back once, more out of habit than necessity.

"There's another problem." I looked towards Pax again. "I don't know whether I was ever specifically followed. When I left New Cov, I had no reason to believe that I was being watched. But I also had no way of proving that I wasn't." My gaze drifted toward the establishment's surroundings before returning to him. "If the occupying forces inherited the old security databases, then they may have everything that existed up until the point I disappeared. Or they may have considerably more." That possibility had always existed somewhere in the back of my mind. "Perhaps they have records of where I went afterward. Perhaps they don't. Perhaps someone noticed my absence and decided it wasn't important." I shrugged faintly. "I simply don't know."

My eyes lowered again. "And I don't intend to find out until I'm safely inside the domes."

There was a longer silence before I continued. "I also want to be very clear about something." My voice became firmer. "I won't be contacting anyone on New Cov before I arrive. Not through an old account. Not through an intermediary. Not through a coded message. Nothing." A faint sadness crossed my expression for a moment. "I know that there are people that I need to find. I know that there may be people who would help me. But the Emergency Protocol exists for a reason." I didn't elaborate on what that protocol contained. Pax didn't need to know. "If there are still people operating underground, I won't compromise them simply because I'm impatient to get home."

My attention returned to the datapad. "And if there are whispers that I'm coming..." I paused thoughtfully. "That is possible. I've spent the last several years trying to convince people outside New Cov that my home is worth saving. It would be naive to assume nobody ever talked about me afterward. I simply have no idea who may have heard those whispers, or what they believe that they mean."

I leaned back slightly. "So, to answer your question..." I gestured towards myself. "New Cov potentially has everything. Everything up until the day I left. The question is whether anyone has bothered to put the pieces together since."

I glanced toward my little companion, who had now returned to his deceptively harmless appearance. "And unfortunately, I suspect that changing my hair and giving me a different name won't be enough if the wrong system is waiting for me." I looked back towards Pax. "So I think that your approach is the right one. Don't try to convince New Cov that I am someone else." I tapped one finger lightly against the datapad. "Just make me someone that they have no reason to look at twice."

Tag: Pax Velloran

 

[Pax Velloran]

A Third Name | Terms of Passage

Pax Velloran | Initial Consultation | Liin Terallo

Pax had expected an employment history. He hadn't expected the Board of Directors, and certainly not the person who had eventually led it. Very little changed in his expression as she explained the progression, though somewhere between scientist and Director his attention left the datapad entirely. What had sounded earlier like the problem of an old employee returning home had just become something considerably larger.

"That narrows down who you are more than you probably intended."

There was no concern behind the observation, only a faint trace of amusement. A former leader of New Cov's Board wasn't an especially anonymous description. Given enough time and the right records, Pax suspected he could probably put a name to the woman sitting across from him without asking her to provide one.

The rest of her explanation settled the more important question. Personnel records, security clearances and biometrics meant there would be systems capable of recognizing her. Research, administration and years at the top meant there would also be people capable of doing the same. Whatever had survived the occupation was impossible to know from this side of the problem, and trying to account for every database, old colleague and security system before they understood the route would accomplish little beyond producing a very long list of things that might go wrong.

Pax listened through the uncertainty surrounding her departure, the possibility that someone had followed what happened afterward, and the explanation of an Emergency Protocol she very deliberately left unexplained. He didn't interrupt. By the time she finished, the datapad between them had stopped being a source of further questions and become something closer to a starting point.

"All right."

He drew it toward himself and glanced once through the transferred files before locking the display.

"That's enough."

There were still things he could ask. Names of former colleagues. Which laboratories had used which scanners. Where she had traveled after leaving. Who she had spoken to while trying to build support for New Cov. Given enough time, Pax could probably turn the conversation into a fairly complete reconstruction of her life.

None of it would get her through the door today.

"You've given me what I need to start looking at the problem properly. Anything else right now is just going to give me more information before I know which part of it matters."

Pax slipped the datapad beneath his coat. The plan wasn't finished. At this point, it barely deserved to be called a plan at all. He had a destination, an old access structure, the beginnings of a route and a much better understanding of what failure would look like. The rest would have to come from seeing what was actually available rather than continuing to design around possibilities at a table.

Her final assessment earned a small nod. Changing her hair and handing her a new name had never been the whole answer. Now he knew exactly how little of the answer it represented.

"I need some time to see what's moving through Liitius, what kind of identity belongs with it, and how much of the old system is still relevant. Then I'll know what we can actually get away with."

He regarded her for a moment before adding, "Until then, don't change anything. Hair, clothes, any of it. I'd rather decide what needs to be different after I know what we're trying to put you beside."

There was one thing he did need before they left the table, though it had less to do with who she was than how quickly she expected him to solve the problem.

"How much time do I have?"

The question came without any particular urgency of its own. A week and a month were two very different jobs. So were a month and three days. Time determined how quietly Pax could work, how many people he could approach without drawing attention, and how much he would have to spend replacing patience with credits.

"If there's a date you need to be there, tell me now. If there isn't, give me the point where waiting becomes a problem."

That was enough. He didn't need the reason behind the deadline, only its shape.

"I'll contact you through the same channel that brought me here."

Pax settled back slightly, the first suggestion since the conversation began that the meeting might actually be approaching its end.

"You've done your part."

A faint smile touched his expression.

"Now I need to do mine."

 

[Liin Terallo]

I watched him slip the datapad beneath his coat, and for a moment I simply considered his final question. How much time did he have? I suppose that there was an answer to that. Just not one that was measured in days.

I reached across the table and retrieved my own datapad, checking briefly to make certain the transfer had completed before shutting the screen down. I slipped it carefully back into my satchel, alongside the notebooks that contained considerably more than I had been willing to place on a device that could so easily be lost or stolen. "As much as you need," I said. "I don't have a date carved into a calendar. I'm not expecting you to somehow solve this in a week simply because I happen to be impatient."

I gave him a faint smile. "I've already spent several years waiting for New Cov to become free. I can tolerate a little more waiting if it means I arrive there alive and unnoticed."

My little companion had returned to his smaller, harmless appearance. He climbed carefully from the tabletop and settled against my shoulder again, apparently satisfied that our conversation had reached a less threatening stage.

I glanced toward him briefly before returning my attention to Pax. "Six months would probably be the point where I'd begin assuming that the problem is impossible rather than merely difficult." I considered that for a moment. "If I haven't heard anything from you by then, I'll take that as my answer. I won't come looking for you."

I paused, then gave a quiet, almost amused exhale. "And I suppose that I've already given away considerably more about myself than I had originally intended." My gaze drifted toward the datapad beneath his coat. "You probably have enough information to work out who I am without me telling you. A former scientist, security clearance in multiple facilities, Board of Directors, eventually it's leader." I gave a small shrug. "It isn't exactly an anonymous résumé." There was a faint self-deprecating smile that I couldn't help but give. "I imagine that was inevitable. The more complicated the problem became, the more of my history became relevant to solving it." I didn't seem particularly troubled by the realization. "If you eventually determine my name, I won't be offended. I'm not carrying a bounty anymore, as far as I know, and I have no reason to believe that anyone is actively searching for me." My expression became thoughtful. "And besides, you were going to find out eventually if we're going to work together."

I rose from my chair, adjusting the strap of my satchel across my shoulder. My little companion shifted with me, disappearing partially beneath the collar of my jacket. "The important thing is that the person you're creating for me doesn't attract attention." I offered Pax a small, genuine smile. "Take the time that you need. Find out what Liitius looks like now. Find out what the traffic looks like. Find out which doors are still opened by the old architecture and which ones have been replaced entirely."

I glanced toward the establishment's entrance. "And when you've found a way through..." My expression to him softened. "...I'll be ready." I inclined my head towards him. "Until then, Pax Velloran."

And for the first time since arriving on this world, I felt as though I had actually taken a step toward home.

Tag: Pax Velloran