The No Peak clan, however, had a long memory and longer grudges. Niko’s aunt Shae had given him an unusual assignment: Use newly declassified information that the clan had obtained to track down firsthand accounts of the ROE’s secret activities in Kekon prior to and immediately after the Janloon bombing. She’d assigned a couple of people to help him with the project, which they both knew would involve chasing a lot of dead ends. Niko was aware that the Weather Man was testing him, but that didn’t bother him. Timeconsuming, methodical detective work far out of the spotlight suited him fine.
Unfortunately, after six months, Niko still didn’t have enough concrete evidence of the ROE’s activities to help the Weather Man substantiate her suspicions. The two retired military intelligence operatives he tracked down refused to talk to the fake reporter he sent their way. The ROE used code names for its informers; sometimes he could determine their identities, but most of them could not be found. The file on Catfish had come with a copy of an arrest record for anti-clan vandalism, which could be cross-referenced with the Janloon police database, but it was sheer luck that Bero’s legal name had shown up again recently in the government’s system, and only, it appeared, because the man was a destitute alcoholic surviving on social welfare.
“I want to know about your previous work for the Espenians,” Niko said. “In as much detail as possible.”
Bero was silent for nearly a full minute. Then he laughed out loud, a raspy bark of incredulous delight. “That’s it?”
“You’ll be paid for it, if that’s what you’re asking.” Niko took an envelope out of his breast pocket and set it down near the recorder. It seemed a waste of clan money; he was confident the man would spend every last dien on liquor.
Bero looked at the envelope and then at Niko. A strange expression suffused his crooked face, a faintly deranged eagerness as he sat forward and let out a foul-smelling sigh of satisfaction. “Sure, keke, sure. I’ll tell you everything.”
“Good.” Niko turned on the recorder. “Did you know a man named Vastik eya Molovni?”
_______
Upon his return to Janloon, Niko hadn’t expected to be welcomed or forgiven by the clan. Indeed, he hadn’t been. Plenty of naysayers, inside and outside of No Peak, speculated unkindly and sometimes outrageously that he’d come back because he’d run out of money, that he was a foreign agent who would betray his family again, that he had a secret lover and couldn’t marry until he restored his position in the clan, among other theories.
Niko could do nothing about the harsh gossip except endure it and try not to let it affect him. He performed the most painful penance he could think of, worse than cutting off his ear, as far as he was concerned: He agreed to television, radio, and newspaper interviews where he spoke candidly about his decision to leave and to return. Over and over again, he apologized humbly and publicly for having hurt and disappointed his family and his clan, and promised that he would do his best to prove himself a worthy son and potential heir from now on.
His grieving parents hadn’t been of much support at first. The Pillar officially accepted his return to the clan, but was otherwise withdrawn, and Niko didn’t expect his mother to ever forgive him, not when he hadn’t been there to protect Ru when it mattered.
Niko soldiered on regardless. Over time, the doubters’ angry grumblings would fade, so long as he put his head down and proved he could back up his intentions with action. He’d done as Ru had once suggested, attending Jan Royal university part-time and progressing steadily toward a joint degree in economics and organizational management. For two years, he worked evenings on the military side of the clan. Ironically, all the training and experience he’d gained during his employment with GSI had improved his martial confidence, and his motivations were different now. He was promoted to Fist in six months, laying to rest the question of whether his previously unremarkable performance had been an issue of ability.
With his aunt Shae’s blessing, he began shadowing Terun Bin, the clan’s Master Luckbringer, to learn about the Ship Street side of the clan. Soon after, the Weather Man began to give him work to do on his own time, including this project of chasing down old breadcrumbs. Recently, he’d begun attending and observing his aunt’s meetings with Lantern Men and other clan stakeholders.
In the three years that had passed since his return to Janloon, Niko had determinedly done everything that could be expected of him and more.
“You used to be so stuck-up, always wanting to ignore the rules and do your own thing. Now you’re a worker ant who doesn’t seem to sleep,” Jaya said, in an unexpected moment of sisterly concern for him. “What happened to you?”