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.Even wearing the remains of a scanty set of clothes, she managed to look confident and determined.“I see,” Isabel said, finally.“And what is that information, so we can judge its value?”“Oh, no,” the girl said.“You have to agree to release me in exchange for my information.”Glen clenched his fists, calling on years of training and discipline to keep himself from simply jumping forward and pounding hell out of the silly girl.Didn't she know what the Civil Guard would do to her if they thought she was withholding information? She’d be beaten, then raped, if she refused to talk.and by then the Guardsmen would probably have forgotten that they were supposed to be extracting information in the first place.But she was his problem rather than anyone else’s.“We could make whatever deal we like and break it afterwards,” Isabel pointed out, sardonically.“I suggest, young lady, that you tell us what you know and we will take it into consideration.”“Not good enough,” the girl said.Glen cleared his throat.“In the event of the information panning out, we will release you,” he said.He did have the authority to make such an offer, but it was always risky.Criminals had been known to manipulate the system to escape punishment for far worse crimes than rioting in public.“However, if the information does not pan out, or if you commit further crimes afterwards, you will be re-arrested and charged with your previous crimes as well as your later crimes.”The girl looked at him for a long moment.She really was strikingly beautiful, he noted, an odd flower amongst the cold CityBlocks.The girls tended to look beaten down, particularly if they were alone, because they grew up without any real security at all.And the girls on Earth were worse.They jumped at their own shadows.And now they’re dead, he thought, morbidly.Very dead.“I trust you,” she said, with a sly smile.“My name is Verona.And I was in charge of organising our side of the riot.”Isabel snorted.“You’re in deep shit,” she said to Glen.“I hope this is worth it.”Verona smiled.“I am – I was – a communal organiser,” she said.“I used to be in charge of organising the playrooms for teenage children in my CityBlock.It was a boring job, really, unless one wanted to be mean and petty.And then I was bribed to organise an anarchist club for young men and women.”Glen leaned forward.“Bribed? By whom?”“They claimed to be anarchists,” Verona said.“I never knew their real names.But they wanted to deliver a mob on command.I thought it was just the same as the other mobs.It wasn't until we got to the city centre and they started handing out masks and weapons that I realised things weren't what I’d thought.And then all hell broke loose.”Glen and Isabel exchanged glances as Verona kept talking.Her words would have to be checked – and checked carefully.But there was no way the riot had happened by accident, even if it had swept a number of young idiots into the madness.Someone had planned it from the start and then.and then what? Were they really anarchists or.Nihilists? Or what?“You will be transferred to a holding camp until we can check your words,” Isabel said, finally.“If they pan out, you will be released.”Glen watched as Verona submitted with icy dignity to the strip search, then donned the prison uniform and handcuffs without protest.Somehow, she still managed to look attractive.He shook his head as Verona was led out of the building, then hastily made notes for support staff to start following up on her words.The Civil Guard couldn't be trusted not to accidentally obliterate the evidence if they went blundering in, loaded for bear.“She was involved,” Isabel said.“Legally, she was obliged to report anything suspicious to her block’s security.”“I doubt she trusted them,” Glen said.In theory, each CityBlock was closely monitored; in practice, most of the security officers were either on the take or incompetent [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]