Oh come on- "

Answer the question."

Norton set his jaw. No. I don' t get high. Sometimes your mouth goes numb, but that' s it. It' s just to give you energy, stop you feeling tired."

Right. Now listen. That energizing effect is part of an evolved working relationship between humans and the coca plant. Coca gives humans medicinal benefits, humans ensure that there' s plenty of coca being cultivated. Everybody wins. And human physiology copes very comfortably with the effects the leaf provides. It' s a benefit that doesn' t interfere with any of your other necessary survival dynamics. You' re not going to do anything stupid just because you' re chewing those leaves."

Why is it," Norton asked heavily, that every time I come to you for help, you have to lecture me?"

Jeff grinned at him. Because I' m your older brother, stupid. Now pay attention. If you extract the alkaloid from the coca leaf, if you take it through the artificial chemical processes that give you cocaine, and then you slam that stuff into the human brain, wel , then you' re going to see a whole different story. You do a couple of lines of that shit, and you surely will get high. You' l also probably do some stupid things, things that might get you kil ed in a more unforgiving evolutionary environment than New York. You won' t pay attention to the social and emotional cues of the people around you, or you' ll misread them. Fail to remember useful personal detail. You' l maybe hit on the wrong woman, pick a fight with the wrong guy.

Misjudge speeds, angles, and distances. And long-term, of course, you' l put your heart under too much strain as wel . All good ways to get yourself kil ed. What it comes down to is that we' re not evolved to deal with the substance at the level our technology can give it to us. Age-old story, same thing with sugar, salt, synadrive, you name it."

And variant thirteen," Norton said drearily.

Right. Though this is a software issue we' re talking about now, rather than a hardware problem. At least to the extent that you can make that distinction when it comes to brain chemistry. Anyway, look- by all the accounts I' ve read, the Project Lawman originators reckoned that variant thirteens would actually have been pretty damn successful in a hunter-gatherer context. Being big, tough, and violent is an unmitigated plus in those societies. You get more meat, you get more respect, you get more women. You breed more as a result. It' s only once humans settle down in agricultural communities that these guys start to be a serious problem. Why? Because they won' t fucking do as they' re told. They won' t work in the fields and bring in the harvest for some kleptocratic old bastard with a beard. That' s when they start to get bred out, because the rest of us, the wimps and conformists, band together under that self-same kleptocratic bastard' s paternal holy authority, and we go out with our torches and our farming implements, and we exterminate those poor fuckers."

Apart from the kleptocrats." Legacy of a lifetime in sibling rivalry, Norton tugged at the loose threads in his brother' s theorizing. I mean, they' ve got to be variant thirteen themselves, right? Otherwise, how do they get to be in charge in the first place?"

Jeff shrugged. Jury' s stil out on that, apparently. The odd thing is the gene profiles for a kleptocrat and a thirteen don' t look as similar as you might think. Thirteens don' t seem to be much interested in material wealth for one thing. Anything they can' t carry over one shoulder, they show very limited enthusiasm for."

Oh come on. How are you going to measure something like that?"

Wouldn' t be that hard. Involuntary mental response to visual stimulus, maybe. We do that here with the washups when they come in. Helps us to profile them. Anyway, there' s observational evidence as wel - apparently before Jacobsen and the roundup, most of these guys were living in small apartments with not much more stuff than you' d fit in a decent-size backpack. So maybe the kleptocrats weren' t thirteens at all, they were just smart guys like us who figured out a socially constructed way to beat the big bad motherfuckers to the pick of the women."

Speak for yourself."

Speaking for all of us, Tom. Because for the last twenty thousand years or so, these guys have been gone. We wiped them out. And by wiping them out, we lost any evolved capacity we might have had for dealing with them."

Which means what?"

Well, what' s the preeminent quality of any good leader, any successfully dominant member of the group?"

I don' t know. Networking skil s?"

Jeff laughed. You are such a fucking New Yorker, Tom."

So were you, once."

Charisma!" Jeff snapped his fingers, struck a pose. Leaders are charismatic. Persuasive, imposing, charming despite their forcefulness. Easy to follow. Sexual y attractive to women."

What if they are women?"

Come on, I' m talking about hunter-gatherer societies here."

I thought you were talking about now."

Hunter-gatherer society is now, in terms of human evolution. We haven' t changed that much in the last fifty to a hundred thousand years."

Apart from wiping out the thirteens."

Yeah, that' s not evolution. That' s civilization getting an early start."

Norton frowned. It was an abrupt bitterness you didn' t often hear in Jeff' s voice. Kind of sour about it all of a sudden, aren' t we?"

His brother sighed. Yeah, what can I tel you? Work for Human Cost long enough, it starts to corrode your fucking soul. Anyway, point is variant thirteen seems to come with a whole suite of genetic predisposition toward charismatic dominance, and it operates at levels the rest of us haven' t had to handle for twenty thousand years. It' s like they carry around an emotional vortex that tears up everyone they touch. Women get pit-of-the-stomach attraction for them, men hate their guts. The weak and the easily influenced follow them, give in, do what they want. The violently inclined kick back. The rest of us quietly hate them but don' t dare do anything about it. I mean, you' re talking about so much force of personality that if one of these guys ran for any elected office, he' d flatten anyone you ran against him.

They' d be pure political Marstech, guaranteed black-label winners every time. Why do you think Jacobsen wanted them interned and chemically castrated? The way he saw it, let them out into general population and within a couple of decades they' d be running every democratic nation-state on the planet.

They' d demolish the democratic process, roll back everything feminized civil society' s achieved in the last couple of centuries. And they' d breed right back into base humanity like rabbits, because any woman who' s at al drawn to male sexuality is going to fall like a bomb for these guys." Jeff gave him another wry grin. The rest of us wouldn' t stand a chance. That what' s bothering you, little brother?"

Norton gestured irritably No, that' s not what' s bothering me. What' s bothering me is that Marsalis is going to cooperate with us for just as long as it takes him to put a blind corner between us and him, and then he' ll run. And what bothers me more is that my partner may be wandering around blind to that particular danger, giving Marsalis a long leash when we can least afford it. So what I really want to know is exactly how far I can rely on Sevgi Ertekin not to screw up while this guy' s around."

Well, how' s she doing?"

I don' t know. But she' s gone off to Istanbul with him, chasing a lead he came up with pretty much out of thin air. That was yesterday, and she hasn' t called in yet."

Exotic Istanbul, huh?"

Oh shut up."

Jeff quelled his grin. Sorry, couldn' t resist it. Look, Tom, as far as it goes, I wouldn' t lose any sleep over what you' ve told me so far. Chances are at some level she does want to fuck this guy raw- "

Great."

- but wanting to fuck a guy' s brains out isn' t necessarily the same thing as switching your own brain off. I mean, look- the bonobo thing is similar. They' ve got an amped-up feminine appeal that' ll blast the average guy' s sexual systems like a cocaine hit every time- "

Yeah, you' d know al about that."

Jeff stopped and looked at him reproachfully. Tom, I said I was sorry about the Istanbul crack. Give me a fucking break, will you? What I meant was, you don' t see me leaving Megan and the kids for Nuying, do you. Risking divorce, separation from Jack and Luisa, maybe a lawsuit for professional misconduct, all because I' m crazy for some modified pussy. Those things are important to me, and I manage to balance them against what Nu does for me. And I come out ahead, Tom. In control, the best of both worlds. Sure, I' ve got a drug problem, and the drug is bonobo tendency. But I' m handling it. That' s what you do, you deal with your weaknesses. You take up the strain. If this woman you' re talking about real y is professionally focused, serious about her work, knows who she is and what she' s about, then there' s no reason she can' t do the same cost benefit analysis and play the game accordingly. If anything, the genetic evidence suggests women are better at that shit anyway, so she' s got a wired-in head start right there. I mean, I' m not saying I' d want to have to hand-wash the sheets in whatever Istanbul hotel they'

re in right now- "

Oh Christ, Jeff."

Jeff spread his hands. Sorry, little brother. You want me to make you feel better, tell you the field' s clear for you to make your Manhattan urbanite move on this woman? I can' t. But if what you' re concerned about really is her professional grip on things- then I wouldn' t worry."

They sat quietly for a few moments. To Norton, letting Jeff have the last word felt like a kind of defeat.

Well, what about this Istanbul clue then? I mean, seriously, it doesn' t come close to any of our current investigation, it' s right out of left field. Some other thirteen the Europeans have interned in Turkey, who might have a connection to some Peruvian gangster who might have ties to the people who maybe had our renegade thirteen shipped back from Mars. I mean, am I supposed to trust that? It' s pretty thin."

Jeff stared out of the window.

Maybe it is," he said absently. Thirteens don' t think the same way as us. They have a whole different set of synaptic wiring. Some of that, the more extreme end, we just go ahead and label paranoia or sociopathic tendency. But often it just comes out as a different way of looking at things. That' s why UNGLA employs guys like this Marsalis in the first place. In some ways, that' s why I suggested you dig him out of Florida and hire him. Give you access to those other angles." A sudden, hard look. You didn' t tell anyone that was my suggestion, did you?"

Of course not."

Yeah? Not even this ex-cop you' ve got under the skin so badly?"

I made you a promise, Jeff. I keep my promises."

Yeah, okay." His brother pressed thumb and forefinger into tight closed eyes for a moment. Sorry. I shouldn' t get so harsh with you, just I' m stressed out of my fucking box right now. This job' s a political tightrope act at the best of times, and now isn' t the best of times. Someone gets to hear that the director of the Human Cost Foundation is giving informal advice to a COLIN officer on matters relating to the genetical y enhanced, I' m going to be looking for another job. We' l get the whole Rim-China-Mars superconspiracy bullshit blowing up in our faces all over again, probably lose the bulk of our funding overnight. Bad enough that we' re taking in black lab refugees and giving them Rim citizenship. Arranging for dangerous genetic variants to be released from jail, that' d be the final straw."

Yeah, well, like I said. Relax. No one knows." Norton felt an unaccustomed tightness in his throat as he looked at his brother. I appreciate all this, Jeff. Maybe it doesn' t come across that way sometimes, but I do."

I know." Jeff grinned at him. Been looking out for you since you were knee-high anyway. That' s what big brothers are for, right? Whole stack of genetic predisposition right there."

Norton shook his head. You' ve been working this field too long, Jeff. Why not just say you care."

I thought I just did. Base reasons for caring about your siblings are genetic. I didn' t have to join Human Cost to know that."

An image of Megan bloomed brightly in his mind. Long tanned limbs and freckled smile, sun and hair in her eyes. The recollection forced its way aboard, seemed to dim his vision. It felt as if the v-format and his brother had suddenly been tuned down into a muted distance. His voice sounded vague in his own ears.

Yeah, so what about sibling rivalry? Where does that come in?"

His brother shrugged. Genetic, too. At base, al this stuff is. Xtrasomes aside, everything we are is built on some bedrock genetic tendency or other."

And that' s how you justify Nuying."

Jeff' s expression tightened. I think we' ve had this conversation, and I didn' t enjoy it much last time. I don' t justify what I did with Nu. But I do understand where it comes from. Those are two very different things."

Norton let the memory of Megan fade. Yeah, okay. Forget it. Sorry I started on you again. I' m feeling pretty stressed myself right now. Got my own genetic tendencies to handle, you know?"

We all do," his brother said quietly. Thirteen, or bonobo, or just base fucking human. Sooner or later, we al have to face what' s inside."

CHAPTER 25.

M orning came in laced with the sounds of traffic along Moda Caddesi and children shouting. Bright, angled sunlight along the sidewall of the room he' d chosen to sleep in and the reluctant conclusion that out here at the back of the apartment there was a school playground directly under the window. He pried himself out of bed, shambled about looking for the bathroom, stumbled in on a lightly snoring Ertekin in the process; she slept sprawled on her back with her mouth half open, long-limbed and gloriously inelegant in the faded NYPD T-shirt and tangle of sheets, one crooked arm thrown back over her head.

He drank in the sight, then slid quietly out again, found the bathroom, and took a long, much-needed piss.

A faint hangover nagged rustily at his temples, not nearly as bad as he' d been expecting. He stuck his head under a tap.

He left Ertekin to sleep, padded to the kitchen, and found a semi-smart grocery manager recessed in next to the heating system panel. He ordered fresh bread and simits both, not knowing Ertekin' s preferences, milk, and a few other bits and pieces. Found an unopened packet of coffee- Earth-grown, untwisted- in a cupboard and a Mediterranean-style espresso pot on the counter. He fired up the stove and set up the pot; by the time it started burbling to itself, the breakfast delivery was buzzing for entry down at the main door. He let them in, found a screen phone, and carried it through to the kitchen table. He unwrapped the simits- gnarled rings of baked and twisted dough, dusted with sesame seeds, still warm- broke one up into segments, poured himself a coffee, and went looking for Stefan Nevant.

It took awhile.

The duty officer at the internment tract HQ in Ankara wasn' t anyone he knew, and he couldn' t pul UNGLA rank because his operating codes were six months out of date. Naming friends didn' t help much.

He had to settle for a referral to one of the site offices, where, apparently, Battal Yavuz was putting in some overtime. When he tried the site, Battal was out in a prowler and not answering his radio. The best the woman on site could do was take a message.

Just tell him he' s a reprobate motherfucker, and a big bad thirteen' s going to fly right out there and steal his woman if he doesn' t cal me back."

The face on screen colored slightly. I don' t think- "

No, real y. That' s the message. Thanks."

Noises from the corridor. He cut the call and broke another simit. Found an unexpected grin in the corner of his mouth, frowned it away. Ertekin used the bathroom, went back to the bedroom by the sound of it, and for a moment he thought she was going to go back to sleep. Then he heard footfalls in the corridor again, approaching. He leaned back in his chair to watch her come into the kitchen. Wondering if she' d still be in the T-shirt. His hangover, he noticed vaguely, was receding.

She was dressed. Hair thickly untidy, face a freshly scrubbed scowl.

Morning. Sleep wel ?"

She grunted. What are you doing?"

Working." He gestured at the phone. Waiting for a callback on Nevant. Why, what did you think? I' d skip out on you as soon as you passed out? Perfidious, self-regarding thirteen motherfucker that I am."

I didn' t pass out."

Well, you dropped your glass while you were resting your eyes then. I figured you' d finished drinking anyway, so I went to bed. How' s your head?"

The look she gave him was answer enough.

Coffee stil in the pot, but it must be nearly cold. I can- "

The phone chimed. He raised an eyebrow and prodded it to life. Ertekin busied herself with the coffee, and he dropped his gaze to the screen. A picture fizzled into focus, grainy with patch-through. Wide angle on an arid backdrop through the dust-plastered windshield and side window of an all-terrain prowl truck.

Battal Yavuz in the driver' s seat, chubby features narrowed in peering disbelief.

Carl? No fucking way that' s you."

The one and only."

They had you in a Jesusland jail, man. Di Palma told us. Special powers invoked, indefinite retention without trial. How the fuck you get out of that?"

I got out of Mars, Battal. What did you think, Jesusland was going to hold me?"

Man, you never know. They' ve got a history of that indefinite retention shit. Fucking barbarians."

Across the table from him, Sevgi Ertekin snorted. Carl flashed her a quizzical look. She shrugged and sipped her coffee.

So what are you doing in Istanbul, anyway? You coming out to visit?"

Don' t think I' ve got time for that, Battal. But listen, I was hoping you could do me a favor."

When he' d hung up, Ertekin was still slumped opposite, staring a hole in the bottom of her coffee cup.

He eyed her curiously.

So what was that about?"