"You make 'em throw themselves over the cliff?"

"Not at all," Blaize cackled. "Too fast, that'd be.

Come and watch!"

By the time everybody had crowded around the low wall at the mesa's edge, the three Loosies were already129.

down on the mud flats, approaching one of the areas where bubbles rose and burst in the glop with a stench of sulfur. The two guards hauled the prisoner to the edge of this bubbling area and thrust him into the soft mud. As he writhed and struggled to escape, they picked up the long sticks that had marked the site of the bubbles and used them to thrust him back into the steaming mud.

"Natural hot springs under there," Blaize ex- plained. "Very hot. Takes a couple of hours to cook 'em through. Fortunately, the Loosies are real patient Those two I use as guards will keep pushing him down until he quits trying to get out, even if it takes most of the evening."

He turned away from the spectacle of torture and bowed once again to his guests. "Well, ladies and gendemen," he inquired with a benign smile, "shall we begin the business meeting?"

Even Polyon, Blaize noted, was pale against the dead black of his uniform; while the other three were shocked into silence. So much the better. It would be a while, he thought, before any of them underestimated little Blaize again.

After the shocking scene Blaize had just provided, the third annual progress meeting began more quietly than the previous meetings had gone. The underlying tensions in the group were still present, however, and all the sharper for another year's fermenting.

As host, Blaize claimed the honor of giving the initial report While Polyon gazed over his head in unfeigned boredom and the two girls sat pale and silent, he began reciting facts and figures to back up his earlier a.s.sertions.

In earlier years he'd had little to report This year he was at last coming into his own. He fancied a glimmer of respect in Polyon's eyes as Blaize explained how he was using the first profits from the corycium mine to finance 130.

fc?

the purchase of heavy mining equipment that would open up even more of the planet for exploitation. Dar- nell twitched and muttered to himself during this pan of the report, but he didn't explode until Polyon pointedly inquired as to how Blaize had financed the initial startup costs of the mine.

"Reselling surplus PTA shipments," Blaize replied prompdy.

"Dear me," commented Polyon, "I thought the - ah - 'Loosies' were starving. Didn't this move reduce your potential worker population somewhat?"

"Waste not, want not," Blaize waved his hand in vague circles. "There's a lot of surplus in any bureaucracy. I just - as you might say - cut the fat out"

It was perhaps unfortunate that his eyes met DarnelTs at this moment, and that the airy circles his hand was sketching could have been taken for an in- dication of DarnelTs growing paunch.

"The h.e.l.l you did!" Darnell exploded, surging to his feet on a wave of red-faced fury. "Cut it right out of my hide, you mean!" He turned to the others as if appeal- ing for their sympathy. "Little b.a.s.t.a.r.d blackmailed me to ship extra food here -free - while he was selling the supplies that ought to've gone to the natives!"

This accusation did not have quite the effect he might have been hoping for.

"Really, Darnell?" asked Polyon with bright-eyed in- terest. "And what were you doing that he could blackmail you for, I wonder?"

Darnell puffed and stammered and Alpha inter- rupted him. "Who cares? I'm delighted somebody finally nailed you. Ever since you took over Pair-a-Dice I've wanted to pay you back!"

"What do you care whether I buy out a crummy casino?"

"That 'crummy casino,' " Alpha informed him, "just131.

happened to be my primary outlet for Seductron at street prices. The gambling was only a front - once you pay the Bahati cops off for a gambling operation, they're too dumb to check and see if that's really where all the money is coming from. Pair-a-Dice - Paradise __ get it, stupid? That's the street name for Seductron."

"I thought you didn't have the dosage schedules worked out yet!" Fa.s.sa sounded appalled.

Alpha shrugged thin, elegant shoulders. Her face was sharp as a knife under the elaborate Nueva Estrel- la style of tight braids piled high in a prismawood spiral frame. "So a few Blissto addicts go out happy.

Who cares? I've got to start making something off Seductron before next year. Even if I work around all the side effects, it's too late to patent it now. So it's street deals or nothing." This reminded her of her grievance. "And since you took over my best outlet, Pudge-face, it's been nothing. You owe me!"

"So do you," Fa.s.sa told Blaize, "Del Parma was low bidder on the corycium processing plant. By govern- ment regulations you ought to've given us the job.

How much did the winning contractor slip you under the table?"

"That," Blaize replied stiffly, "is between the two of us, and nothing to do with you, Fa.s.sa! Besides, know- ing what I do about del Parma's construction methods, what made you think I'd be fool enough to let you build a latrine trench on Angalia?"

"Huh! Angalia already is a latrine trench! Ha-ha- ha!"

n.o.body except Fa.s.sa paid the least attention to Darnell's lame jest. She whirled and stabbed a long iridescent corycium-sheathed fingernail at his chest.

"And you! Remember the Procyon run? That's the last time OG Shipping gets any del Parma business!'*

Darnell smoothed down his green synthofur jacket 132.

&f and smirked. "Can't see what you're complaining about," he replied. "Switching good construction materials for substandard ones is standard practice for del Parma."

"Only," Fa.s.sa said, "when / keep the profit. I'm not running a charitable a.s.sociation for the benefit of OG Shipping."

"Can't see why not," Darnell leered. "The word is you've been charitable to enough of Bahati's male population already."

Fa.s.sa sat down abruptly, holding her head in her hands. "Don't remind me," she wailed, "as if you and everybody else cheating me weren't enough, can't I at least forget about that inspector from CreditLin for a little while? I gave him what he wanted, the s.p.a.ce station's paid for, I can't understand why he won't go away."

"I can," suggested Blaize helpfully. "Fraudulent QA records, shoddy materials, slipshod building practices, non-union workers..."

"Cheat!"

"Bloodsucker!"

"Shark!"

The meeting dissolved into the usual chaos while Polyon sat back, arms crossed, and murmured, "Naughty children."

* CHAPTER EIGHT

Kailas, Procyon Subs.p.a.ce, Central Date 2754 The Central Diplomatic Services office tower was a lacework of steel and t.i.tanium needles, wrapped in translucent green synthofilm that trapped and redistributed natural light in a soft, unchanging glow.

Midnight or noon, the CDS offices on Kailas were lit by a gentle, slightly green-tinged light that was energy- efficient, situation-appropriate, and psychologically proven to be simultaneously soothing and inspirational.

It made Sev Bryley feel as if he was about to suffer a recurrence of the jungle rot that had attacked his skin on Capella Four. He tried not to think about the light It was a minor matter, not worth wasting the precious minutes this important man had granted him.

"Youhate this, too, don'tyou?" the important man said.

"Sir?"

An impatient grunt "The blasted light Something Psych and EcoTech dreamed up between them. Makes me feel as if I were back on Capella Six."

"For me it was Four," Sev confessed.

Another grunt. "Different war, same jungle. I'd open a window if this place had windows. Can't peel plastifilm open, more's the pity."

"It's very good of you to make time to see me at all, sir," Sev said cautiously. So they had a common back- ground - service in the Capellan Wars? Was that why this highly placed diplomat had given a mere private investigator ten minutes out of his crowded schedule?

"Not at all. Do the same for any friend of the family 134.

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who needed help. So. What's your problem, d'Aquino?"

Sev stiffened. "I didn't intend to call on family con- nections, sir- "

"Then you're a d.a.m.ned young fool," said the gray- haired man in the conservative blue tunic. "I've been checking your Net records. Your full name is Sevareid Bryley-Sorensen d'Aquino-why didn't you use it when you requested this appointment? You could have gotten in to see me three days sooner. And why me, if you didn't mean to call on High Families connections?"

"I was not aware that there was a relationship be- tween our families. Sir," Sev said stiffly. "I came to Kailas because it was the nearest world with any CDS representatives high-ranking enough to deal with my problem. And I approached you because you have the reputation of being one of the two Central Worlds offi- cials on this planet who cannot be bribed, threatened, or suborned."

"So you found two honest men, my Diogenes? I'm flattered."

"Sir. My name is Bryley, not Dio - whatever."

"A cla.s.sical reference. No matter. What do they teach them in University these days? But then, you didn't finish your schooling. Why didn't you cash in your veteran's benefits after Capella IV to complete your education at Central's expense?"

Sev tried without success to conceal his surprise.

"The Net can supply - um-rather a lot of detail,"

his interlocutor explained gently. "Even about a rather obscure private investigator who's recently lost his position with Bahati CreditLin - yes, I found out about that too. Something about a gambling scandal at the Pair-a-Dice, wasn't it?"

"It was a lie!" Sev leaned forward, burning with in- dignation at the memory. "My supervisor - he had anonymous letters about me. I know who sent them, but I can't prove it,"

"And who might that be?"

The same man who transferred credits into my Net account and played under my name at Pair-a-Dice - or maybe he sent one of his flunkies to play the part.

When I went to the casino, they wouldn't tell me any- thing about the man who used my name."

"No. They beat you - rather badly-and threw you out into the ecocycler in the back alley." The gray-eyed man surveyed Sev with eyes that took in every feint mark of healing bruises and sc.r.a.ped skin. "Lucky you didn't wind up being recycled into somebody's rose garden; we suspect that's what has happened to a few other people who annoyed the proprietor of that particular estab- lishment So. bu came to your senses, crawled out of the ecocycler before it began its chop sequence, got treat- ment for your more obvious wounds from some shady blacklisted ex-doctor among your underworld friends, and... came halfway across the galaxy to wait three days for an interview with me. Want me to get you reinstated with Bahati CreditLin, is that it? Favor for a friend? Teach them not to act on anonymous accusations against a High Families lad - even one who's rebelled against his background and is working incognito?"

"Sir!"

"It can be arranged, you know," said the gray-eyed man, watching Sev closely. "A word from this office, and Bahati CreditLin will reinstate you, full back pay, no questions asked. If that's what you want..."

"No, sir."

The gray-eyed man nodded briskly. "Good. I didn't think so, but one has to be sure. You want to track down the people who framed you, then."

"More than that." Sev dropped his eyes. "I think I know who framed me. And why. But it's a long story, and there are High Families involved. That's why I came to you, sir. Somebody without that background might be tempted to shove everything under the car- 136.

137.

pet for fear of offending someone powerful. And of those in Central Administration who are High Families - well - " He spread his hands helplessly." I don't know the lineages and their reputations. The only two people whose integrity everyone is absolutely sure of are you and General Questar-Benn - and she's on some kind of secret a.s.signment, n.o.body would tell me where."

"How flattering," purred the gray-eyed man.

Belatedly, Sev realized the implications of his words.

"Sir. I didn't mean - 1 am most grateful that you agreed to see me, truly I am."

"Take that as read. Now why don't you tell me what's going on?"

Sev's cheekbones reddened. His tongue felt like a wad of cotton in his mouth. Where could he begin? In this cool green-lit office, the madness that had seized him on Bahati seemed like a dream.

"There was - a girl."

"Ann. You know, there quite often is, in such cases.

And you - made a fool of yourself?" He looked at Sev sympathetically. "You know, I can remember the urge to make a fool of oneself over a young lady. I'm not so old and dried-up as all that. But if this story is going to be personal, perhaps you'd feel easier continuing it in a less formal environment? Sometimes I go across town for lunch - there's a cafe in Darkside. Nothing fancy. But at least it gets one out of this d.a.m.ned jungle light- Fifteen minutes later, feeling somewhat as if he'd ac- tually been through the ecocycler's processing sequence, Sev and the man he'd come to see were seated at a table in the back of a cavernous, dimly lit cafe. The one window that might have admitted a little sunlight was curtained by dusty streamers of glitzrib^ bon and prismawood light-dangles. In one corner of the room, a weedy boy with long red hair tied in z black velvet bow tinkered with his synthocom set, producing occasional bursts of strident sound that grated on Sev's eardrums.

Even his sleazy story seemed no more than normal, here. He wondered if that was why they'd come to this dingy place. It seemed an odd setting for a man who spent his working life meeting with presidents and kings and generals.

"It's quiet here," said the only honest man on Kailas, "and more to the point, I know there won't be any un- authorized datacordings made of our conversation; I'm acquainted with the proprietor of this place. She has quite a number of visitors who don't want their dis- cussions overheard or recorded."

"I can believe it," said Sev with feeling.

"So. If that answers your curiosity about why we came here - why don't you tell me about this girl?

"She was - " Sev stopped, swallowed, searched again for a place to begin. "She is head of a construction com- pany based on Bahati. Their most recent contract was for a s.p.a.ce station to catch Net signals and route small-pack- age traffic between Vega subs.p.a.ce and Central. As pan of my routine duties for Bahati Creditlin, I was asked to do a final walk-through inspection of the station. It was-it should have been just a formality; the head of Contracts Administration had already signed off on the work."

"I take it," murmured the gray-eyed man, "there were, in fact, some deficiencies in the construction methods?"

"It was a. joke" Sev's hands moved freely and he for- got his nervousness as he sketched the discoveries he'd made. "Oh, everything looked good enough on the outside. Fresh new permalloy surface skin. Interior corridors painted and glowlit, shiny new sensor screens to scan the exteriors. But once I opened up a few panels and started looking at what was behind the fresh paint-" He shook his head, remembering. "She 138.

6? 139.

tried to distract me. No. That's not fair. She... did dis- tract me. For a while." Three days and nights in Fa.s.sa del Parma's private cubicle on her personal transport ship, wheeling around the s.p.a.ce station, watching the blazing dance of the stars through the clear walls above and below and around their own dance...

Sev felt himself on fire again, remembering. And regretting. Even now, some part of him wanted noth- ing better than to be back on the Xanadu with Fa.s.sa del Parma y Polo. Whatever the cost.

"She was... annoyed," he said slowly, "when I told her I'd have to complete the inspection according to form."

He looked up at the man seated across the table, search- ing for a hint of condemnation in the level gray eyes. "I should have done the inspection immediately. I'd given her three days." No, shegave them to me. Three days FU never forget. "She'd had her people working overtime to con- ceal their cheap work. Panels behind panels. Fake safety numbers stenciled on the recycled supporting beams.