"Perhaps..."

Gray glared at his Primary.

Hento looked away, studying the image again. "Forgive me, Sarjah. I must speak. Perhaps you are too engaged to see the matter with your usual clarity."

"What more is there to see? The recording does not lie. The woman is a liar." And I'm a fool.

Hento gazed in silence at the floor, clearly gathering his thoughts.

Gray strode to the table, grabbed the holo-emitter, and turned it off. The image of Daria blinked out into nothingness. "I grant you one thing, Hento. The next time I profess to trust a woman, you will investigate her to the boundary of your considerable ability. No matter what I say."

Hento didn't look up, didn't smile. "I trusted her as well, Sarjah."

So they were both fools. "At least I'm not alone in misplacing my trust."

"Perhaps our trust was not misplaced. She begins with a plea to camaraderie, followed by flattery. And she deliberately asks Jamison what he is planning."

Gray raked his hair back. "Yes. She had no plan of her own. She wanted to help him. She thought he shared her goal, that he wanted to stop the constitution."

"Hmm."

"And she deliberately encouraged me to add an unpopular provision to the constitution.

She sought to destroy --" Me. " -- Everything I've worked for."

Hento sat down at the table and folded his hands in his lap. "Yesterday, Sarjah, I heard her speaking to you in the negotiation chamber. She urged you to remove the problematic sections so that the constitution would pass."

Yes, she had. Yesterday -- before her meeting with Jamison. He frowned. "Why would she urge me to remove the provisions, only to plot with Jamison a few moments later?"

"Perhaps she sought to help you, Sarjah. Perhaps she was trying to draw information from Jamison."

"Information that would help me?"

No, that would be too great a gift from the gods. What was the English phrase? Something like wishing on one's thoughts... If only Daria were here to ask.

He shook his head. "I can't believe it, Hento. When she confessed to me, she admitted..."

She'd admitted that she'd never truly wanted him, that she'd plotted to kidnap him. That she'd lied from the moment of meeting him. But she'd tried to tell him more about Jamison.

And he'd forced her to leave.

"It's best that she's gone. I could never be certain of her again."

Hento nodded. "That is something only you can know, Sarjah. Trust requires forgiveness.

Perhaps your feelings for her are not strong enough to bear it."

"My feelings? My feelings are nothing to the matter. She's a liar, and even if I can't stop lo--" He took a deep breath and lowered his voice. "Regardless of my feelings, she doesn't wish to be forgiven."

Hento shrugged -- a fervent declaration of emotion from his dignified, reserved Primary.

"Speak as you will," Gray encouraged.

"I merely thought, how unfortunate that we have no way of learning if she seeks your forgiveness."

Oh, Hento was crafty, all right. Gray understood his hidden meaning perfectly. "I do know her legal name. We could --" He paused for a calming breath. "If we wished to find her, which I don't, we could trace her ID. She left with nothing, so she'll have to use credits soon."

Hento pulled at the back of his neck with one hand -- his nervous gesture. "In truth, Sarjah, I believe she has an anonymous credit card."

No hope of finding her, then. Gray scowled. "Where did she find an anonymous card? And how do you know that she has one?"

Hento pulled at the back of his neck again. "When she left your quarters yesterday, Reema saw her running through the corridors of the ship. She seemed terribly distraught, Sarjah. Reema and I were concerned for her welfare."

Sanwar. His loyal Primary of over twenty years, more loyal to the woman who'd betrayed him. What was it about Daria that made everyone wish to protect her? "You helped her escape."

Hento looked down at his clasped hands. "Yes, Sarjah. We did provide some assistance."

And that assistance made it impossible to find her. Even if he wished to, which he didn't. But at least she knew that Hento and Reema cared for her. If she needed help, she might contact them. Hento would surely tell him if she...

No. She believed the Enforcers were seeking her. She would not risk asking for further assistance from Hento and Reema.

"Thank you for helping her, my friend."

Hento looked relieved. "You know I admire her, Sarjah. She needed assistance. Providing this was no hardship to me and Reema."

"And you didn't know what she was."

"You mean a... what did she say? Something about resistance."

Gray snorted. "A clever euphemism. The word is terrorist. Wait -- she told you?"

Hento nodded. "I confess I sympathize with her plight, Sarjah."

He gaped in shock. "Surely you jest. The woman is a criminal."

Hento studied his hands for a moment. "She has been taught to mistrust and fear people from our world, Sarjah. Yet she cares for you. Such a conflict must be difficult to resolve."

He turned away and clenched his hands, hard. "Shall we view the recording again? I 'don't mean a thing' to her. She was only sleeping with me 'to find a way to block the passage of this constitution.'"

"The words she spoke to Jamison may not be her truth."

Even if they weren't, even if she'd lied to Jamison, Gray had no way of finding her. He would never know what her motives had been.

Enough. The woman would no longer goad him. "We have a vote in five hours, Hento. Will we prevail?"

Hento sighed. "Only the gods know, Sarjah. Most of the Earthers appear to be in favor. The constitution does grant them more control than they have at present, so they appear willing to compromise on most issues. The Prendarian delegates are divided."

Gray sat down across from his friend. "Give me a list of all the undecided delegates. Tell me what you know of their concerns. I will greet them personally before the meeting, and speak to their concerns from the podium."

And even if he failed, at least attempting to persuade them would fill the empty hours before the meeting began.

"As you will. But first, Sarjah, I would say one thing."

Hento looked more serious than Gray had ever seen him. "Speak."

"Daria believed that you and Reema were bed companions in the past."

"What? Why would she believe such a thing?"

Hento spread his hands wide. "I do not know, Sarjah. But I do know that a woman only feels jealousy if she cares for a man."

"She didn't care for me. She cared only to exploit me." And less honestly than any of the others. "Now let's talk politics, Hento. We have delegates to persuade."

"As you will," Hento murmured.

* * * * * Daria pushed the curtain aside a few inches and peered out the narrow window. A thin film on the glass made the view fuzzy, but she could see well enough. Nothing unusual on the street -- just the typical traffic. She could see the entrance to the space dock from here. She'd stared at the portal half the night, but no Enforcers had shown up. Maybe they hadn't started searching for her there, although they typically began with a suspect's last known location.

She hadn't left the room since yesterday. Bunkered down, Tank would say. She'd run out of the space dock and straight into the nearest hotel, an inexpensive ten-story building designed for space travelers on a budget. Tank would have kicked her ass for staying so close to a place where dozens of people could ID her. But she had nowhere to go, and she'd wanted to get off the street as quickly as possible. At least she'd used her anonymous credit card to check in.

Sometime during the long night, tears had given way to anger. How dare he yell at her? Lecture her? Just because he'd been lucky enough to have a wealthy, powerful aunt. Oh, he'd left that out of his life story. He might have been a slave as a child, but the rest of his life had been lived in luxury.

And he'd kicked her out before she could explain anything. Before she could convince him that she was on his side. Before she could make him strike all those damned extra provisions and get the constitution ratified.

Before she could tell him that she loved him, the arrogant, self-righteous bastard.

Of course, he'd been shocked and hurt. An honorable man like him could never understand why anyone would work outside the law. The law had always been on his side.

But at least he'd given her time to escape.

She looked at the clock on the bedside table. Only thirty-five minutes before the meeting closed and the voting began. Even if the constitution passed, Henry would make sure Gray never became Prefect. And Gray would blame her. Rightly so.

How soon before Spider showed the recording? He wanted the constitution to pass, so he wouldn't show it until sometime after the vote.

And Gray might believe the things she'd said. That she was only sleeping with him to find a way to stop the constitution. That he meant nothing to her.

On the street below her narrow window, a hovercraft sped by. A cab.

If she took a cab, she could get to the meeting in time.

Whoa. In time to do what? To get her ass arrested? A whole platoon of guards waited in that lobby. Guards who'd recognize her. Guards who probably knew that Gray wanted her in prison.

But if she got in... if she could get to Gray... maybe she could explain. Maybe she could help him trap Spider somehow. And if she couldn't get to Gray, maybe she could at least find Hento. Hento would listen. Hento would know how to stop Spider. Shit, Hento probably had a small army just waiting to shake down people like Spider.

She might be able to make it. The Enforcers hadn't shown up at the space dock. Maybe Gray hadn't called them after all.

That was a whole heap of ifs and maybes.

But Gray loved her -- or at least had cared about her -- even though he thought she was a prostitute. Only one man in a million would be willing to expose his feelings to a whore.

Gray.

And he deserved to be Prefect.

Even if she couldn't get to Hento or Gray, she could turn herself in. Tell what she knew about Spider... make sure he didn't get elected instead of Gray.

He needed her help, even if he didn't want it. Even if it cost her a lifetime in confinement. After everything he'd done for her, everything he meant to her... Losing him felt worse than losing Tank. She had nothing without Gray. No friends, no home, nowhere to go.

No love. No self-respect.

Maybe she could get a little of it back. She could still try to right her own wrongs, face up to her mistakes... and maybe help Gray, too. Even if he never forgave her, even if she'd lost him forever, she could have the satisfaction of knowing she'd tried to help him in the end.

She took a deep breath and turned from the window. Leaning on the dresser, she studied her reflection in the mirror. Only one man had ever called her beautiful.

And today, after a sleepless night, she looked further away from beautiful than ever. Nothing could disguise her puffy, red-rimmed eyes, but she rummaged in her purse for a tube of lipstick and swiped some on, then brushed her hair.

Her jacket still lay on the bed, thrown there last night while she'd indulged in a crying jag. She put it on, slung her purse over her shoulder and headed for the door.

Time to face the music.

Chapter Ten.

Most of Civic Center was a pedestrians-only zone. The cab dropped her off three blocks from the old Opera House. She walked down Grove Street with her head held high, eyes straight ahead, as if she belonged here. A group of uniforms nodded politely and smiled as they passed her. Amazing what pretending you belonged somewhere could do.

She turned left on Van Ness. The old opera house loomed next to her -- the headquarters for the delegates. Gray's center of operations. The tightest security she'd ever gone through.

She went up the steps at a brisk stride. If this was the end of the line, best to get it over with quickly.

There they were -- the first bank of security guards, the ones at the weapons checkpoint. Was that fear in one man's eyes? Maybe not. Maybe he just recognized her. He stood tall and dropped his gaze -- they all did. Just like they had yesterday.

She walked through the weapons scanners without hesitating. No alarms sounded. But the guards ahead would scan her ID. If the Enforcers wanted her, her ID would be flagged.

A uniformed Prendarian woman held out a hand for her ID. The same one who'd scanned Gray's ID yesterday. Daria handed her card over without a word, holding her breath as the woman passed the card through a scanner.

From this angle, she couldn't see the scanner screen at all. Would an alarm sound? Or would a silent flag come up on the screen?

It didn't matter. No matter what happened, she wouldn't run. She wouldn't fight. Even if they restrained her until the Enforcers came, she'd stay calm. If she cooperated, maybe they'd let her talk to Gray. Or at least Hento. She'd tell them she had vital information about a threat to Sarjah Gray's safety.

The woman handed the card back to her with a smile. "Just a formality."

Oh, thank God. Gray hadn't called the Enforcers after all. He must still... No. She shouldn't read too much into that.

Daria took the card, nodded, and headed for the elevator.