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CHAPTER NINETEEN

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“Who the hell are you?” Sovelli demanded.

“The official owners,” I told him, gesturing at the Vrinks. “Well, as official as these things get. You cut it a little close, there.”

“Wanted to scout the area first,” Braun said, gesturing a silent order at Sovelli. The detective-lieutenant hesitated; then, with clear reluctance, leaned over and put his GovSev on the floor. “Needed to make sure it wasn’t a trap. Couldn’t believe they would come here without backup.”

“They knew they’d need to dispose of us and didn’t want any awkward witnesses,” I said. “Which is good news, actually. It means Sovelli’s the only one of his force who’s in on the graft.”

I gestured to the Vrinks, still working on their meal. “Anyway. Here’s the package, as promised. I suggest you get it aboard the Ylpea ship and off Alainn as quickly as possible.”

“Sounds like a plan.” Braun hefted his gun. “First, how about all of you put your weapons and phones on the floor?”

We complied, Kreega reluctantly, Townsend icily, Sovelli borderline apoplectically. The three Ylp guards collected our abandoned hardware and then herded us into a corner of the kitchen while Braun carefully sprayed a sort of liquid plastic onto the Vrinks’ upper arms. “You don’t really think you have to worry about Loporr hunters here, do you?” I asked as he and Scarf eased their prizes onto their feet.

“Never hurts to be careful,” Braun said. “Here’s how it’s going to work. We go out that door and seal it behind us. You stay inside and behave yourselves, and no one has to get shot.”

“And you load the Vrinks aboard that Ylpea ship out there?” Kreega asked.

“You catch on fast,” Braun said approvingly. “If the badgemen watching the port are smart and don’t interfere, they won’t get shot, either.”

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about the Bilswift badgemen,” I said. “I’m betting Consul Townsend has them all back at the station helping her aides with some nonsense paperwork.” I raised my eyebrows at Townsend. “Or am I wrong?”

“Some of them are also at Panza’s,” Kreega said, glaring bitterly at Townsend. “Zilor checked in with me while we were waiting outside, said they’d gotten a tip that a big contraband deal was about to go down in there.”

“So, no badgemen at the port,” I said, nodding. “Looks like clear sailing, Braun.”

“Yeah,” he said. “One more thing.” Silently, he held out his hand.

“Oh. Right.” I dug the silver-silk strands I’d clipped from the Vrinks out of my pocket. “I’d have thought we’d at least get a finder’s fee,” I pointed out as I handed them over.

“Your finder’s fee is to end this day with your life intact,” Scarf said tartly as he reached over and plucked the strands from Braun’s hand. “It is more than you deserve.”

“Normally, I’d be inclined to dispute that,” I told him as the three Ylpea guards started easing the Vrinks down the hallway toward the door. “But as my father used to say, Arguing against people can be productive. Arguing against leveled guns usually isn’t.

“Smart man, your father,” Braun said. He waited until Scarf and the others had disappeared down the hallway, then followed, keeping his Blackman trained on us. “Nice and quiet, now, and no one has to get hurt.”

“For an hour?” I suggested.

“Better make it two.” Braun gave Townsend a speculative look. “On second thought, sit tight until sunrise. Little Miss Fancy here could use a lesson in how the lesser people live.” With a sardonic smile, he disappeared into the hallway. Straining my ears, I heard the front door open and close, followed by the unmistakable hiss of a thermite seal-strip being applied.

“Garage,” Kreega said, heading the direction Braun and the Ylps had first appeared from.

“No point,” Selene said. “They already sealed the door. I can smell it.”

“And the windows were already sealed when we got here,” I added. “Also unbreakable by anything we’ve got with us.”

Kreega ignored us, disappearing down the hall. She was back a minute later, looking just as angry but with a resigned edge to the expression. “So that’s it?” she demanded, loading all her frustration into the glare she leveled at me.

“Not even close,” I assured her. Crossing to the stove, I opened the oven door and retrieved the spare phone I’d brought from the Ruth. “To quote Braun, here’s how it’s going to work,” I said, stepping over to Townsend. “A small contingent of EarthGuard Marines should have landed a few minutes ago at the Bilswift spaceport. At the moment—”

“EarthGuard Marines?” Kreega echoed, goggling at me. “What the hell—?”

“At the moment,” I continued raising my voice to talk over her, “all they can do is detain the Ylps for unregistered animal cargo. A small fine, they can pay it instantly, and they can basically be on their way.” I raised my eyebrows at Townsend. “Or . . . ” I paused.

For a second she didn’t seem to get it. Then, abruptly, her expression went from confused to horrified. “No,” she breathed. “No. Not a chance. I can’t.”

“It’s the only way to stop them,” I said, holding out the phone. “If you call in a preliminary declaration of Loporr sapience, the Marines can hold them on kidnapping and sapient-trafficking charges. And those don’t just go away with the wave of a commark-laden hand.”

“I can’t,” Townsend repeated, a hint of dismay creeping into her defiance. “I’d be . . . ”

“You’d be what?” I pressed. “Dumped on by the handful of people currently making money off the illegal silver-silk trade?”

“It wouldn’t work anyway,” Kreega said. “A declaration like that requires a full Commonwealth review and confirmation.”

“But the preliminary assessment would be in force during that process,” I pointed out. “Meanwhile, the Ylps and every other smuggling operation either goes frozen or unravels.”

Townsend shook her head. “No.”

“As you wish,” I said with a shrug. “You still should call your friends. Only now you should warn them that the Bilswift connection is done. No more Vrinks, no more silver-silk. Ever.”

“What are you talking about?” Sovelli demanded. “If you’re thinking about slaughtering all of them—?”

“Is that your first thought?” I cut him off, feeling my eyes widen. “Mass murder?”

“Don’t be squeamish,” he growled. “They’re just animals. And it’s the only way to permanently stop the trade.”

“No, they’re sapients,” I corrected him. “And you really need to work on developing some imagination. The footbridge from Seven Spirals is the only way to the Loporr colony. A few satchel charges, and the bridge goes poof.”

“Aircars—”

“Can’t land there,” I said. “You know it, I know it, and I’m pretty sure your overlords know it.”

I turned back to Townsend. “Your choice, Consul. Declare the Loporri sapient and continue with a controlled distribution of their silver-silk, or sit there and watch it dry up before your eyes.”

“They’ll kill you,” Townsend said softly. “One of them will order your death in reprisal.”

“They might succeed,” I acknowledged, forcing my voice to remain calm. “They might not. Either way, the silver-silk trade will still be gone.”

For a long minute no one moved. Then, with clear reluctance, Townsend reached out and took the proffered phone. “They’re going to hate you,” she warned. “They’re going to hate us both.”

“I’ve been hated by worse,” I said. “And really, I wouldn’t worry about your career. There are a lot of people out there, many of them influential movers and shakers, who stand ready to loudly celebrate visionaries like you who can see past physical limitations and find the shining souls that lie beneath the surface.”

She gave me a disbelieving and rather scornful look. “You aren’t serious.”

“Trust me,” I assured her. “That is exactly how they talk.”

Taking a deep breath, Townsend punched in a number.

* * *

By the time Zilor and the other badgemen responded to Kreega’s call to get us out of Lukki’s hideout, the brief spaceport battle was over.

For Scarf and his three Ylpea guards, so were their lives.

* * *

“I hope you’re happy,” Kreega said, glaring at me across her desk, “with the mess you’ve made of my city.”

“Sorry,” I said. I wasn’t particularly sorry right now—I was too tired for that much emotion. But then, her glare didn’t have much genuine anger behind it, either. It had been a very long day, and an even longer night.

But fatigue apart, emotion or not, she was right. Bilswift and Alainn would never again be quite the same.

“Maybe you should focus on the silver-silk lining,” I said. “Your founders hoped this place would draw in tourism. Now, with a brand-new group of sapients, that might happen. Native village, lectures on customs—the whole works. It’s happened before.”

“Except that in those places tourists could go right in and see the sapients up close,” Kreega said. “They can’t do that here.”

“They can get close enough,” I assured her. “Just because aircars can’t land doesn’t mean they can’t hover off the side of the mountain and let people look inside.”

Kreega snorted. “Yeah. Big thrill.”

I shrugged. “Whale watching on Earth and Urgil sighting tours on Hopstead are very popular. But those details will be up to you and the city fathers.” I stood up. “If that’s all, Selene and I need to get back to work.”

“That’s not all,” Kreega said, pointing me emphatically back into my seat. “There’s still a little matter of four murders, remember?”

I sighed to myself. I’d hoped she’d forget about those long enough for Selene and me to get out of Bilswift and over to the Tranlisoa StarrComm center. “I’d assumed the Ylps were responsible.”

“That would be convenient,” Kreega said. “Especially since they’re all dead and can’t be questioned. Problem is, the Ylps were armed with firearms and the victims were killed with plasmics.”

“Have you checked out Kiolven and Venikel?” I asked. “I know Patth sometimes carry plasmics, and Braun said he saw Willie’s killer in a Patth robe.”

“Of course I checked them out,” Kreega said. “They were in Tranlisoa on business when Lukki was killed.”

“Kiolven might have been,” I said. “But not Venikel. He was the one who jumped me our first night in town.”

Kreega frowned. “Are you sure? The Tranlisoa badgemen confirmed their alibi.”

“You assume human badgemen can tell one Patth from another.”

“Well, there is some very good computer ID software available,” she pointed out. “But fine, let’s assume you’re right. What’s their motive for the murder?”

“They might be working with Galfvi,” I said. “We know now that Galfvi was going behind Lukki’s back to get those Vrinks to the Patth ship that’s sitting out there in your spaceport.”

Formerly sitting out there in my spaceport,” Kreega corrected. “They left about an hour after the battle.”

I sighed. Stuck here giving statements and being debriefed, I hadn’t heard that particular bit of news. “Which pretty much proves they were Galfvi’s buyers.”

“Or it proves they get nervous around EarthGuard Marines and gunfire,” Kreega said. “Can’t really nail it down.”

“Especially now that they’re gone,” I said. Yet another group unavailable for questioning. “So where are Kiolven and Venikel now? Are they still in Bilswift, or have they also faded into the sunset?”

“I assume they’re still around,” she said. “We’ve been a bit busy here, you know.” She raised her eyebrows. “Speaking of alibis, I should point out that you and Selene were here in town at the time of Parsons’ murder. Actually, come to think of it, you were in town for all four murders.”

And here we were, back where I’d always known we would end up. “Motive?” I asked.

“Tirano, of course,” Kreega said. “You were looking to free him from his slavery—excuse me, his indenture—and so methodically took out Parsons and everyone else who might have a claim on him.”

“There are easier ways to break an indenture than murder.”

“Maybe,” Kreega said. “But not any more profitable ones. Badgeman Zilor told me you suggested he file bounties on Parsons and her people.”

“Whoa,” I protested. “I never suggested he do that. He asked how the bounty hunting business worked, and I told him.”

“Still suggests you were thinking about the possibility,” Kreega said. “You aren’t planning to leave town anytime soon, are you?”

“As a matter of fact, we are,” I said stiffly. “Selene and I need to go to Tranlisoa to make a StarrComm call.”

“Are you taking your ship?”

“Have you seen our ship lately?” I countered. “No, we’ll take a shuttle. Probably drive to Cavindoss and take one of the ones from there.”

“Mm.” For a moment Kreega studied my face. “You’re smart, Roarke. I’ll give you that. Smart, resourceful, and I get the feeling you’re okay with skating over the line if you think it necessary. Not to mention being able to whistle up a squad of Marines on short notice. In my experience, all of that makes for a bad combination.”

“Sometimes the job requires that kind of footwork,” I conceded. “But I always try to arrange things so that it doesn’t.”

“And you’re glib on top of it,” she said. “Your father’s influence, no doubt. All those aphorisms of yours . . . but that’s beside the point. The point is that you’re a suspect in four murders, and I’m going to keep at you until I know for sure one way or the other where you fall.”

“Fair enough,” I said. “Can I get back to my work now?”

“As long as you don’t leave Alainn,” she said. “Is Tirano still aboard your ship?”

It was a question I’d been expecting in one form or another ever since the interview began, and I was ready for it. “Not unless he dematerialized and sneaked in through the Ruth’s cutter array,” I said. “Which you already know, of course, since you’ve had your badgemen watching it practically since we landed.”

“Minus one or two gaps,” Kreega said, watching me closely. “You’re saying you wouldn’t give him refuge if he asked for it?”

“That’s an entirely different question,” I pointed out. “But I’d probably go along with the Commonwealth legal standard of innocent until proven guilty. Unless you have evidence that he’s involved with the murders?”

Kreega shook her head. “You misunderstand my interest. I simply note that he’s one of the few remaining people connected to Lukki Parsons who’s still alive. I’d like to keep it that way, at least until we’ve had a chance to talk to him.”

“A noble goal,” I said. “Are you extending the same consideration to Braun?”

“I’d be more than happy to do so,” she growled. “Unfortunately, Mr. Braun managed to slip away from the port confrontation just before all the shooting started. We haven’t seen him since.”

“Can’t really blame him,” I said. “Good luck tracking him down. If Tirano comes knocking at the Ruth’s entryway, I’ll be sure to let you know.” I frowned as a sudden thought struck me. “One more thing. Was Lukki armed when you found her?”

“She was never armed,” Kreega said, frowning. “She always said she had people for that.”

“Yes, she told me that, too,” I said. “Good morning, Detective-Sergeant. And do get some rest.”

Once again, I turned to the door. This time, Kreega didn’t call me back.

Selene was waiting in the outer office. “You finished?” I asked as she stood up.

“Yes, a few minutes ago,” she said. “You?”

I nodded. “Let’s get back to the ship. I need a couple of hours of sleep before we do anything else, and I’m pretty sure you do, too.”

“We could still make the six o’clock shuttle from Bilswift,” she said as we walked outside to our car. “It would save us the drive to Cavindoss, and we could sleep on the way.”

“Actually, I’ve reconsidered,” I said, peering to the east where the glow of dawn was silhouetting the Loporr mountain. Somehow, the view made me even more tired. “I think we’ll have you go to Tranlisoa alone while I go back to the portal.”

Selene looked at me, her pupils showing surprise. “What for?”

“You said the thing was dead,” I reminded her. “I want to figure out what exactly that means.”

“It means it doesn’t work anymore,” she said, her pupils going oddly cautious. “It’s broken.”

“Exactly,” I said. “And sometimes things that are broken can be fixed.”

She remained silent until we were in the car and heading back toward the spaceport. “You want me to call the admiral,” she said slowly. “You’ll be talking to me on your phone from the portal, and I’m going to ask him how to fix it?”

“Exactly,” I said. “From what I could see it looked like a Gemini, and by now they must surely have done some work on the set they picked up from Popanilla and Fidelio. If I can describe what I see, maybe send you some pictures to pass on to him, maybe they can tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s been sitting there for at least ten thousand years,” she reminded me. “We assume working portals have some kind of housekeeping protocols that keep everything running. But without those . . . ” She shook her head.

“I agree it’s a long shot,” I said. “But we might as well be as complete about it as we can. Especially since the admiral will yell at us if we don’t.”

“There’s that,” Selene agreed, all emotion fading from her pupils. She was as tired as I was, maybe more so. “How much sleep were you thinking?”

“At least four hours,” I said. “That would still leave us enough time for you to drop me at Seven Strands and continue on to Cavindoss to catch one of their Tranlisoa shuttles. By the time you’re on StarrComm with the admiral I should be inside the portal and ready to describe what I see.”

“All right,” Selene said. “But wouldn’t it be better if we did it the other way? You go to Tranlisoa and I go to the portal?”

I shook my head. “No.”

“There might be something inside the portal I would smell that you would miss.”

“It’s better the other way.”

“Why?” she demanded, a flash of annoyance momentarily crowding out the fatigue in her pupils. “Because you think going to the portal will be dangerous?”

“No,” I lied, knowing she would know it was a lie but too tired to care. “Because Graym-Barker is less likely to yell at you than he is at me.”

She turned away, gazing out the windshield as I maneuvered us through the still sparse morning traffic. She knew the truth about my reasoning, or at least suspected it. But I didn’t have the energy to argue.

Besides, I was also right about the admiral. Selene and her Kadolian senses were far more valuable to him and the Icarus Group than I was. That required him to at least make an effort to be civil to her. Me, not so much.

I skipped our usual parking place by the runaround stand in favor of something closer to the Ruth. We would theoretically be heading out again well before the evening rains and possible hail, and right now I didn’t want to walk any farther than I had to.

Zilor had already put in a full night’s work, but one of Kreega’s other badgemen was back on duty. I didn’t bother to wave at him as we drove past.

We got out, Selene still giving me the silent treatment, and headed the last twenty meters to the ship. I had one foot on the end of the zigzag when Selene suddenly jerked to a halt. “Selene—” I began crossly, looking back at her.

The rest of my complaint died in my throat. The look in her pupils . . . “What is it?” I asked.

She closed her eyes and pointed toward the river. “There.”

I braced myself and stepped off the zigzag. “Show me.”

* * *

Braun was bobbing gently in the water, tangled in a group of reedlike plants at the mouth of a small stream that trickled into the main river just west of the docks where Lukki’s boat was berthed. From what I could see from the riverbank, it appeared that he’d been killed right there, probably while getting away from the spaceport firefight and heading for the boat.

It was also clear he’d been killed by a double plasmic shot to the chest.

I huffed out a sigh. Like Selene and I weren’t tired enough. “Okay,” I said. “You want to stay here on watch, or go back and tell the badgeman?”

“I’ll go,” she said, backing away from the body.

I didn’t blame her. Even this soon after death, dead bodies started taking on a disturbing scent. Distantly, I wondered if Graym-Barker fully understood the full cost of our service to his organization. “Okay,” I said. “Just tell him, and then go home. A shower, food if you need it, and sleep.”

“What if he doesn’t let me?”

“Plead excessive fatigue,” I said. “Wave vague Kadolian physiology concerns in his face, maybe invoke life-threatening exhaustion. You know all the right trigger words—use as many of them as you have to.”

“Okay,” she said, still backing away. “What about you?”

“I’ll be in when I can,” I told her. “Just go.”

A minute later, she was gone.

I took a deep breath, wondering vaguely how much sharper the mix of odors was for Selene, and huffed out a sigh. A long day, a long night, and another long day ahead.

With my hoped-for portal investigation work now pushed yet farther into the distant future. I tried to imagine what the admiral would say about that, but my brain really wasn’t up to the effort.

Gazing at the body, the last known member of Lukki’s gang, I settled down to wait for the badgemen.

* * *

I’d been hoping Kreega would decide that Selene and I had done our part in this investigation, that we were too exhausted to be coherent, and that anyway she and her badgemen knew more about Braun than we did.

But this was Kreega, and she now had five murders on her hands. She brushed aside all of Selene’s protests and warnings and hauled us both back to the station, apparently under the assumption that we had crucial facts about Braun’s last day that she needed to know.

Which, in all fairness, we probably did.

She kept us there until nearly noon, when the preliminary autopsy was done. As I’d already concluded, he’d died from two plasmic shots to the chest.

“But what’s interesting is that he doesn’t seem to have gone for his own weapon,” Kreega said. “That suggests he knew his attacker.”

“Or that he was focused so hard on getting to the boat that he was caught off-guard,” I said.

“Maybe,” Kreega said. “Either way, you’ll note that he was killed crossing Bosmo Creek, right at the moment he needed to concentrate on his footing. The perfect time for an attack.”

“You can also add in the spaceport battle going on that would cover both the sound and the flash,” I pointed out.

And that the killer knew the best spot to intercept him,” Kreega continued doggedly. Clearly, she was still pushing for either Galfvi or Tirano to be guest of honor on the hot seat. “That suggests intimate knowledge of Bilswift and environs.”

“Not necessarily,” I said. “Selene and I have only been here a few days, and she at least knew about both the boat and that section of the river bank.”

“Really?” Kreega asked, frowning suspiciously. “Took a stroll along the river, did she?”

“Just checking out the area,” I said. “Hunters don’t like blind spots in their operational zones.”

“I thought you were retired.”

“Force of habit,” I said. “Can we go now? We’ve told you everything we know, and from this point everything will just be fatigue hallucinations.”

“Or maybe you’ll just be too tired to lie,” she said pointedly. “Fine. Go get some sleep. We’ll let you know if we need you again.”

“Just don’t need us for at least a few hours,” I warned.

Once again, Selene had finished her part of the debriefing ahead of me. She was waiting in a chair in the station foyer, her eyelids squeezed shut. “Wakey, wakey,” I called softly as I came up to her. “Time to go to bed.”

With a visible effort, she opened her eyes. “I thought we were going to Cavindoss,” she muttered.

“Not yet,” I said, taking her arm and easing her up out of the chair. “Probably not at all, actually. At this point we might as well call it a day and try to catch up on our sleep. If we hit the sack midafternoon we should be able to get up in time for you to take the six a.m. Bilswift shuttle. That’ll leave me with the car, which means we won’t have to coordinate a pickup when you get back.”

“All right,” she said as she stumbled toward the door. “You want me to drive back to the Ruth?”

I peered at her face. Normally, her eyelashes did a sort of slow, rhythmic beat, similar to how a snake periodically flicked out its tongue, and for the same air-sampling reason. Now, her eyes half closed, the eyelids and lashes were stopped dead. “That’s okay,” I assured her. “I’ve got it.”

* * *

With the somewhat heavier midday traffic, the drive to the spaceport took an additional ten minutes. In my current state, it didn’t feel like more than two or three years. I got us to the ship, parking even closer this time, then got us going on the ordeal of climbing the Alpine mountain that the Ruth’s zigzag had become.

Lurking among the cobwebs in the back of my mind was the thought that Tirano might have deadlocked the hatch. If he had, we were just going to sack out at the top of the zigzag, because there was no way I was going to try to negotiate our way back down.

Fortunately, Tirano had missed that particular aspect of the day’s string of heavy ironies. I got the entryway open, maneuvered Selene through it, and closed it behind me. “Okay,” I said, turning aft toward Selene’s cabin. “Let’s get you to bed—”

Abruptly, she stiffened in my arms. “He’s gone,” she breathed. “Gregory, he’s gone.”

It says a lot about my state of mind that I didn’t even make the connection with my thoughts of two minutes prior. “Who?”

“Tirano.”

I looked back toward the two cabins. The hatch into Selene’s was closed. The one into mine, the one Tirano had been sleeping in, was open.

“Must have gone out the back door,” I said, starting to walk again. “Or maybe out the front during the firefight.”

“We have to go after him,” Selene said, her voice flat and mechanical. “We have to find him.”

“No, we don’t,” I said. “Not until we’ve had some sleep. Come on.”

“But he’s all alone out there,” Selene said, clearly trying to work up some emotion for the situation and just as clearly failing completely.

“No, he’s not,” I said again. “He’s got Galfvi, remember?”

Either she didn’t remember, didn’t care, or was too tired to argue the point. I got her into her cabin and onto her bed, and before I even got her shoes off she was dead to the world. I covered her with one of her blankets as best I could and went out, closing the hatch behind me. Backtracking to the entryway, I made sure it was locked and deadbolted.

And then, just to be on the safe side, I locked the hatch into the crawlway that led to the Ruth’s Number Two equipment bay’s back door.

If Tirano wanted to take off without discussing it with us first, there was nothing I could do about it. But I could damn well make sure he didn’t just waltz back in again whenever he wanted to.

I kicked off my own shoes on the way across my cabin. I had a vague memory of pulling up my blanket when the long-craved unconsciousness took me.


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