Free Deception Well (The Nanotech Succession Book 2) by Linda Nagata

by the war weapons of the Chenzeme.
    His gaze rose, to the brilliant white column towering above the peak of the city, the great wall of the elevator cable hard and bright in the full light of Kheth. “We won’t find Jupiter in cold storage.” He stood up, defiance coursing through him. “You don’t believe that now. But you’ll come to believe it.”
    Urban laughed. His eyes were unfocused, dark windows where vague shapes moved, shadowy dreams of power. “Either way, I want you to come to the rally tonight. You’ll do that for me if I take you into cold storage. You’ll do it for Gent.”
    Lot felt his enthusiasm descend to a cooler plane. “You mean if we aren’t arrested for trespassing.”
    “That won’t happen.” He glanced over his shoulder, winking at a faint sheen high up on the green wall of the surrounding hedge—a slick, round reflection, no bigger than the cross section of a girl’s arm—all that was visible of a security camera mounted there. “We’re not alone, you know. Clemantine’s off-duty now. This shift is on our side.”
    “You’ve got security behind you?”
    “I’m not going to answer that, fury. Not until you’re sure you really want to know.”
     

CHAPTER
    6
    T HEY WAITED UNTIL THE STREET BELOW WAS EMPTY . Then they dropped over the railing and trotted east. Here, town houses clustered against each other under veils of climbing ivy, clematis, and thick-trunked wisteria. The vegetation split the morning sun’s horizontal rays into sprays of gold that glinted against address plaques and puddled water, so that a hundred times Lot thought he saw Ord returning.
    But each time he was mistaken, and they were still alone when they reached the first of the narrow green bridges that arched across Vibrant Harmony as the stream boiled down the stepped slope of the eastern city. Urban raced over the narrow span. Lot followed silently, a step behind. From there they bounded down the winding path that paralleled the stream, skirting the patios of opulent homes squeezed close upon the water.
    Lot’s knees ached and his lungs were burning by the time they reached the broad pond at the bottom of the city’s long slope. He pulled up, to stand with his hands on his hips, head thrown back, drinking in lungfuls of sweetly humid air. In the pond, orange and white koi saw him and swam over, their heavy tails splashing loudly as they harassed each other, seeking the best begging position. Here, the stream path joined a white-paved street that ran beneath the arched entrance of the walled refugee quarter.
    “Come on, fury,” Urban urged, his breathing already beginning to slow. “We have to meet Gent.”
    Lot gazed anxiously into the quarter.
    Jupiter’s people had settled here, moving into a cluster of ornate pyramids separated by lines of street trees. The pyramids loomed over the neighborhood’s enclosing wall. They were fifteen stories high, with balconies around each floor, and progressively fewer apartments on the higher levels. They’d been unpopular with the Silkens because they were at the base of the city, across from Splendid Peace Park, and the view wasn’t so good.
    Lot had never tried to enter the refugee quarter before.
    Such a good boy.
    He grimaced. Ado defiance began to work at him, and finally, he trotted after Urban.
    I T STARTED WHEN THEY WERE ONLY A FEW STEPS into the quarter. Some kids kicking a ball through the white street stopped their game abruptly when they saw him. The ball bounced away into a bed of ferns while the kids huddled together, their whispered debate easily audible: “ It’s him . It’s him .”
    “Jupiter?”
    “No, stupid, that’s Lot.”
    “Shut up, you dumb ados! Remember what Gent said?”
    Farther down the street, two women stood chatting beside a doorway. Recognition sparked in their eyes. “It’s him.” One stepped forward, but the other laid a gentle hand on her arm as if to hold her back. They exchanged a quick look.
    Lot felt his