Chapter One Hundred and Seventy-Two: Investigating the Mayor (Patreon)

Three days later, I was back in Tanisport for the weekend.

Rest and recuperation? Nope.

Anne had a lot to report, in the form of copiously documented video.

“I tracked Aldiss for a week,” she said. “He’s like a machine. Works, eats, attends office, gives speeches, and then goes home and drops off to sleep within minutes.”

“Surely he watches television. Or has friends.”

“No, he’s like a monk. And they call me asocial…”

“Who calls you asocial?”

“Never mind. The point is, I’ve seen him do everything, and I do mean everything, for the last one week. Nanobots even watched him shower…”

“Uhh… should you have done that?”

“What’s done is done, and it’s not like I haven’t seen things before.”

“I’d like to know where exactly.”

“Let’s not forget our first meeting.”

“... Moving on, was there anything that stood out? Any friends?”

“He opens his inventech suitcase every night and twiddles with the dials somehow. That’s it. I made a daily list of everything he did, hour by hour, for the last week.”

“Let me see that,” Paul took the tablet and started flicking through Anne’s notes. “This is very well documented, Anne. Good work.”

“Thanks, Dad. It was really, really boring, though. Andrew, anything in particular you wanted to see?”

“Did he have any visitors? Pretty women, in particular?”

“.... Why do you ask?”

“I was chatting with General Fontaine the other day. Random stuff. He said the commonest vice of politicians is that they have secret girlfriends.”

“Maybe in France, a politician here would get railroaded out of office for that. Anyway, there weren’t any non-PG scenes going on in the last week. I told you, monk.” She frowned. “Although there was the one Chinese attorney who showed up at his home….”

“Did anything happen?”

“Nah, they just sat and talked. It was a bit weird, though….” She frowned. “Let me get the video.”

The nanobots’ optical sensors had excellent quality, it turned out. The video showed us the attorney - who gave her name to the guard as Jenny Tseng-Li - enter, sit down on the sofa, and greet Aldiss with a simple ‘Hello’.

Aldiss sat down opposite her and nodded.

Tseng-Li handed something to Aldiss, who pocketed it.

Then, for the next few minutes, they stared at each other.

No words. No discussion. Not even a smile.

Just two people staring at one another.

Finally, Tseng-Li got up, shook hands with Aldiss, and left the apartment without saying another word.

“Okay, that’s definitely weird,” I said.

“I know, right? I thought it was some weird professional ritual at first, or they were just having a staring contest. Then I, er, got busy with some stuff and filed it away for attention later.”

“Did Tseng-Li visit again?”

“No…”

“What is she meeting him for, officially?”

“She represents a company in Tanisport that wants to hire some Chinese immigrants,” said Paul. “A friend of the Association let me know."

"We know which friend, right?"

"Yes, and she's just a friend. Focus. Can we play that segment over?"

We watched the segment twice more, in silence. "Anything in particular you're looking for?" I asked Paul.

"It seems oddly familiar, the way they're staring at each other. Reminds me of something…. can't quite put my finger on it."

"Maybe dinner will stir your creative juices."

"That depends on who's cooking, I suppose."

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We sat down to a veritable feast. Chicken tandoori, hummus, a classic biriyani and several heaps of sugarless sweets.

Hey, it was for the weekend, and Paul's sugar was under control.

"Junie's doing well in school," Anne said between bites, "he got four B’s and a C this term.”

“No talking with your mouth full,” Paul said automatically.

Anne smirked.

<Nanocloud>: Thank goodness we have other ways to communicate.

<Belessar>: I suppose. Are all three of them settling in?

<Nanocloud>: Malaika and Elsbet are a bit better adjusted now. Elsbet’s even flirting with some of the boys. Broken a few hearts, she has.

<Belessar>: Not hers, I hope?

<Nanocloud>: Don’t worry, they’re made of sterner stuff. Their therapy’s going well, too.

“Stop,” Paul suddenly said. “Are you two using Mindspeech?”

Anne rolled her eyes. “I’m not talking, Dad, don’t worry….”

“That’s not what I meant. Was that Mindspeech?”

“Yeah, so?”

“So, that’s what the scene reminded me of. You and Andrew, communicating without words. You just stare at each other for seconds like that.”

A cold feeling crept through me. “Other humans can’t use Mindspeech. The only ones who can are…”

“Aliens,” Anne finished. “Aliens talk to each other using Mindspeech.”

“Well.” I stared down at a tandoori chicken for which I suddenly had absolutely no appetite. “This is going to be a mess...”