第12节

'They're dyes, major. Just like these. Underneath,

her skin is exactly the same as yours and mine. All it takes to make

the switch is a few handfuls of pink leaves, crushed and dipped in

water. Put her under a shower with someone like Roz and you wouldn't

be able to tell one from the other."

'It doesn't matter what she looks like on the outside.

On the inside, she's still a Mute."

Steve didn't let up. 'But doesn't it strike you as strange that a race

that's officially classified as sub-human can produce creatures that

walk, talk, look and think like real people?"

Wallis looked worried. 'Steve - I don't think this has any relevance

to ' 'With respect, sir, I think it's extremely relevant.

Major Nevill has questioned my reliability and, for good measure, has

thrown out a thinly-veiled accusation of misconduct. My defence to

that hinges around the status of Mutes and their place in the scheme of

things. They're the enemy. They oppose everything the Federation

stands for. There's no dispute about that ' 'Glad to hear it,'

muttered Wallis.

'But the presence of Mutes like Cadillac and Clearwater - who far from

being sub-human, are actually closer to being super-human - brings into

question everything the First Family has taught us about Mutes.

The Plainfolk have an answer to that question. They claim that before

the Holocaust, Mutes and Trackers were members of the same society.

The same race.

Humankind."

Wallis intervened, his voice edged with anger. 'That's enough,

Steve!

These are very dangerous waters you're getting into."

'See what I mean about this guy?" said Nevill. 'He tried to peddle

the same muddled-headed shit to the Board of Assessors." He faced

Steve with a triumphant leer.

'What did she do to you, lieutenant - suck your brains out through your

dick?"

Steve was gripped by a sudden desire to throw himself across the table

at Nevili and punch the mex's teeth down his throat but Roz came into

his head and willed him to stay calm. 'You're right, major,' he said

amiably.

'I guess I asked for that. When you been out on your own for as long

as I have, playing both sides of the track, it's sometimes hard to know

where the edges are. ' 'We're aware of the problem,' said Wallis.

'That's why this temporary lapse of judgement will not go on the

record. As for you, Jake, we might be able to get through this a lot

quicker and more constructively if you adopted a less aggressive

attitude. We are not a Board of Assessors, and Steve is not on

trial.

The eight of us are all on the same team."

Nevill accepted this with a nod but he was not a happy man.

'Okay, let's get this meeting back on the rails. Steve, you were

saying that Cadillac did not entirely trust you..."

'Call it a lurking suspicion. His feelings are confounded by the fact

that I've got him out of several tight corners.

But like you said, he's not an idiot. We couldn't have escaped from

Ne-Issan without help from the outside and there came a point where I

could no longer conceal that fact. So I came clean - admitted I was an

undercover agent, sent out to capture the three of them.

And I told him I'd been forced to accept the assignment because the

Federation had threatened to kill Roz if I refused."

'And did he believe you?" asked Wallis.

Steve shrugged. 'He went along with it. It was the only way he could

get out of Ne-Issan. I think he finally bought the story when we

knocked out Side-Winder and the mex pilots at Long Point and grabbed

the airplanes.

Things got better from there on in un-' 'until he and that Mute bitch

downstairs blew four of our aircraft out of the sky and planted

explosives on Kelso and Kazan!" Nevill's eyes made it clear what he

thought of Steve's contribution to the war effort.

Steve took a deep breath before replying. 'I've already been through

this. I didn't know Kelso and Jodi were primed to explode. They