Wolf Block Read Online Free PDF Page A

earlier question. “Okay, so you don’t do everything in unison, so that’s no longer a secret,” she said, grinning slightly without realizing it. “Did you have something to do with me being assigned here again today?”
    “That’s a secret.”
    “Of course,” she acknowledged. “But let’s just say I don’t believe any of it. You heard my name from the Upholder who relieved me yesterday, and you recognized me today. It was just a coincidence and you’re using it to try to confuse me. You don’t actually like me, you’re just trying to keep me off balance.”
    There was a slight pause, but not so slight that Bunierti didn’t catch it. “You can believe that if it makes you happy,” the prisoners said in unison.
    Her grin, still unnoticed, faded abruptly. She felt a sinking sensation as she realized what that slight pause probably meant. If their response had been based entirely on predictability, they wouldn’t have paused. This implied that they were synchronizing in real time and the pause was for a cue. Bunierti realized this could mean there was a lot more danger than she first perceived, for it would require that they had some mechanism for accomplishing it. If they had that, what else might they have? A mixture of fear and anger took hold in her mind.
    “I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” she snapped, “but you’re not going to get away with it! Sure, maybe little actions here and there, but whatever your grand scheme is, you will fail. I promise you that!”
    The prison block fell silent. In unison, the prisoners turned away from the shield glass and retreated into their cells. Bunierti decided she needed to assert her authority over the situation, so she marched to the far end and back. She saw that the prisoners were now standing at the back of their cells, facing the back wall, as they had been on her first walk along the corridor. Once she returned to the door, she resumed her guard stance, watching and listening. For a long while, there was no sound or motion. Bunierti made another circuit along the corridor, and still the prisoners were facing the rear walls of their cells. She stopped at a couple cells to watch the prisoners within, to see if there was something going on at the far side of the cell that would be a clue to the puzzle, but she saw nothing that implied any communication among the prisoners. The only new thing she noticed was that all of the prisoners had the outline of a wolf’s head in profile as a tattoo near their right temple.
    Back at the door, Bunierti considered the possible implications of the wolf head markings. It was not illegal to get a tattoo, she had seen several on Nongma, but it was certainly not something that was acceptable in polite society. What was more disturbing to her was that they all had the same tattoo, and one seemingly related to where they were imprisoned. In a lower-security holding facility where prisoners were not separated from each other this would not have been surprising, but the prisoners of Wolf Block should never have been able to give each other such a mark, nor would they ever have had access to someone else who could coordinate their inkings. They could have received their tattoos before being placed in Wolf Block, but even that seemed highly unlikely, especially for the tattoos to all look identical despite being done at separate places and times.
    The prisoners reappeared at the shield glass walls of their cells. “We still like you, Bunierti,” they said in unison.
    Her jaw dropped. They knew her full name. Recovering from the surprise, she scowled deeply. “Be silent!”
    “You don’t want to talk?” they asked together.
    “No.”
    “You don’t want answers?”
    She hesitated. “No.”
    “Did you know Alwhaan Sriara?”
    “No.”
    “She was the Upholder you saw yesterday who did not recall as ordered,” they explained.
    Again she felt a pang from realizing how much they knew. “Oh,” she responded