In the morning, Peter and Kathryn said very little to one another, but a gentleness arced in the air between them. Liaison, who was preparing a breakfast of soycakes and baco, hummed odd songs that Peter could not place. Eventually he decided she was just making them up as she went along. Breena remained quiet and aloof.
The ABTech building, which Peter located on the city’s Westside, resembled a large warehouse more than a research facility. When no one entered or left the building during the first few hours of his morning surveillance, Peter wondered if ABTech had given Crusader a false billing address.
It was not until just after noon that he finally saw someone, a woman, leaving through a small gateway at the south side of the building. She was an ork. Dressed in a once-attractive winter coat now outdated, she had obviously made a poor woman’s attempt to dress up.
Because nothing else had caught his eye all day, Peter decided to follow her to see if it just might lead him to something interesting. He didn’t expect much, though; he assumed she was a low-paid gofer sent out for lunch.
Like most orks, she was stocky, the reason Peter was so rarely attracted to ork women. They had neither the delightful height and muscle of troll women nor the delicate fragility of pure humans. To him, ork females always floated between the extremes of his desires.
He found this particular ork endearing, however. Though he saw most of the pure human shoppers along the walks of the posh merchant area pull away at the sight of her, she did her best to maintain an air of pride. She clutched her old coat about her and held her chin high.
As the ork passed, one woman pulled her daughter off the sidewalk. Then she stood there staring indignantly after her, as if the ork woman had come to this neighborhood solely for the purpose of frightening her daughter.
The little girl also stared after the ork with intense curiosity. The woman drew the child close and comforted her, though she showed not the slightest need for comforting.
Peter opted for social invisibility.
The ork woman turned north and walked toward the Congress Line rail station.
Well, so much for the lunch theory, thought Peter. He crossed the street quickly to make sure he didn’t miss the train the woman would take. Following her up the stairs to the platform, he noticed that she clutched the handrail with a firm grip, as if she had trouble walking. Then he saw her step had a bit of a wobble.
When they reached the platform and were waiting for the train to arrive, Peter also noticed that the woman’s belly bulged a bit. The winter coat had hidden the fact from across the street, but now her pregnancy was obvious.
Looking up at her face again, he found that she was looking back at him. He gave her an embarrassed smile, which she returned. Then both looked away.
That would make sense, he thought. Maybe she didn’t work for ABTech. Maybe she was a volunteer in some program of theirs. “Stop it,” he told himself. “You’re just guessing now. Stop guessing.”
The train rolled into the rail stop. Peter entered a car behind the one into which the ork had stepped. He then worked his way up to the front of the car and watched the ork woman through the windowed door between the cars. Though her car was crowded, he saw the pure humans trying to step away or hold themselves apart from the woman.
The train rode east for some twenty minutes. At the Logan Square stop, she got off. Peter gave her plenty of lead to keep from arousing her suspicions.
They left the station. As she headed north and continued walking for another ten blocks, Peter remembered that an ork ghetto lay in that direction.
It was immediately obvious the moment he entered the ghetto. On one side of the street the orks on the street paid him little heed. The instant Peter crossed the street, suddenly every ork down the length of the block checked him for a piece. He hadn’t done anything yet, so they didn’t bother him. But two mothers sent their children to follow him, probably to make sure he didn’t cause any trouble.
Peter acted as if he didn’t notice them, and continued following the woman until they reached a rundown high-rise. The ork passed through a massive set of glass double doors, then checked her mailbox. After pulling out her mail, she unlocked the inner door, men disappeared into the shadows.
Peter followed her into the building. Checking the mailboxes, he saw that she’d opened Wilson 5-G.
Glancing around, he saw no one. Even his tails were gone.
He stepped up to the lobby door and pulled out a thin strip of metal. Sliding it between the lock and the frame, he worked it for a few moments. The lock clicked and Peter pulled the door open and was about to step through when he heard the building’s outer door open behind him.
He’d been wrong about the kids who’d been tailing him. They hadn’t lost interest—they’d called for help.