What a piece of work you are, Grease, Jane thought. She sat back, twiddling a lock of hair. The date of the videos was the eighteenth of March-one month and ten days ago-only a few days before his family left him. Did this recording show a falling-out among conspirators? Or did it show a man confronted with a past he thought he had escaped? Jane thought. She sat back, twiddling a lock of hair. The date of the videos was the eighteenth of March-one month and ten days ago-only a few days before his family left him. Did this recording show a falling-out among conspirators? Or did it show a man confronted with a past he thought he had escaped?

Either way, it provided conclusive proof of a link between Kovak and the mob. Either the Ogilvies had paid for someone to hack Upside-Down's servers, Down on Earth, and/or someone within Upside-Down was dirty. Because only the bootlegs made within fourteen hours and ten minutes of the time and date stamped on the video showed the meeting. All recordings made after that showed only Kovak and his daughter leaving the kiosk-just as the official, laundered versions had.

She called Aaron on a line secured with her newfound privacy technology. He responded instantly. "What do you have?"

"I'm transmitting two sets of files," she said, typing inwave as she spoke. "The first are the official 'Stroiders' copies, requested through our local library, of the tampered videos. The second set are several bootlegged videos made by 'Stroiders' viewers back on Earth." She clicked Send Send. "I've flagged the important ones to watch. The bootlegs made within two hours and ten minutes of release back on Earth show Ivan Kovak meeting with Nathan Glease and his muscle, Mills. The rest do not. This gives you everything you need to connect Ogilvie & Sons to the destruction of the ice, and to Marty's murder."

Aaron's eyes widened as she spoke. "G.o.d is merciful! I'll call Jerry Fitzpatrick. We'll have those two behind bars in no time." He lifted a hand to disconnect, but paused. "Thank you for this."

She started to say "I'm doing it for Marty," but realized that that was not the whole story. I don't know if I can ever completely forgive you, Aaron, I don't know if I can ever completely forgive you, Aaron, she thought. she thought. But I'm going to try. But I'm going to try. "You're welcome." "You're welcome."

26.

Xuan directed two of the hired hands to break down and load the equipment, while Jesse radioed Mills in the c.o.c.kpit. "Sir, I'm going to call in to request a spot in the landing queue for when we arrive."

"Fine-go ahead," Mills said, in a bored tone. Xuan heard the staticky clicks that meant Jesse had switched over to a different channel. A moment later he came back on the comm. "Professor, Stores Chief Moriarty is on frequency one oh six point oh for you," he said. Xuan switched over.

"Ngo Minh Xuan here."

"Xuan, this is Sean. I just got off the phone with Commissioner Navio. Lisa and I would like to offer you two a place to stay."

Xuan winced at the mention of Jane's name. "That would be lovely. Thank you for the invitation. We'll be headed back shortly."

"Good. Just come straight to our place. I'm beaming you the address."

They made their good-byes, and Xuan signed off, heart pounding hard.

He might still be able to bluff his way out of this. He started up the ramp, acting as if nothing was wrong, though the open cargo door loomed like the barrel of a weapon. By the time he reached the top, Mills stood there, holding a large pipe wrench in both hands.

"Gentlemen, I believe we have been hosed. No, no-leave those there," he said. The hired hands were carrying Xuan's bags and cartons up into the ship. "I think the good professor and I need to have a little talk."

Mills put an arm across Xuan's shoulders, gripped him by the air intake lines at his helmet. "Professor No, the Stores chief just referred to Commissioner Jane. Am I to understand that Jane Navio is your wife?"

It's bad enough you are a thug, Xuan thought, Xuan thought, the least you could do is get my name right. the least you could do is get my name right. "That is correct. Why do you ask?" "That is correct. Why do you ask?"

"Well, I'll just tell you why. I have a sensitive bulls.h.i.t detector, and I've been smelling something off about you. I'm willing to bet that your wife sent you here to f.u.c.k with us." He jerked Xuan by the air lines. Xuan's feet flew out from under him. Mills set him down again, still holding on to him. "I'm willing to bet that you screwed with the results of your test to make us think this rock has less ice than it does."

Xuan summoned indignation. "No, sir. Your a.s.sumption is not correct. I am head of the Astrogeology Department at Phocaea U. Check it for yourself; my bio is on the university's wavesite under faculty. You asked for someone on short notice. All the grad students were already a.s.signed to other duties. I have no idea who you people are or what you are doing, other than surveying a potential ice claim, nor do I know why my wife's name should matter to you."

Mills chuckled. "Ah, I see. He has no idea who we are, gentlemen. Let me set you straight. We are the new bosses in town, and we don't like people like you and your wife getting in our way."

"The last thing I want is to get in your way. I just want to do my job."

"Maybe he's telling the truth, sir," Jesse said.

"Let me handle this," Mills snapped. "Professor, have you ever seen what this"-he swung the wrench-"does to a faceplate in a vacuum?"

Xuan saw in Mills's gaze that he wanted Xuan to defy him. He was looking for an excuse to kill him. The sun was down now, but with his augmented vision, Xuan could see clearly. Five armed men were at the base of the ramp, and Mills, a man nearly twice his size, had a firm grip on his air hoses. If he tried to leap away, Mills would smash his faceplate, or wrench his lines out. And even if he could escape, where would he go? He only had a few hours' worth of air, and didn't know the codes to the mine locks, or if the mine was even habitable anymore.

I won't survive this, he thought. He wished he had thirty seconds out-of-time so he could send Jane a note. Tell her how much she meant to him. Tell her to tell the kids good-bye. he thought. He wished he had thirty seconds out-of-time so he could send Jane a note. Tell her how much she meant to him. Tell her to tell the kids good-bye.

Buy time, he thought. "Might I point out that I would be more useful to you prior to exposure to vacuum than I would be afterward, if my wife is indeed obstructing your efforts?" he thought. "Might I point out that I would be more useful to you prior to exposure to vacuum than I would be afterward, if my wife is indeed obstructing your efforts?"

Mills eyed him, swinging his wrench back and forth, back and forth. Then he shrugged and lowered the wrench. "You have a point. Oh well."

He gave Xuan a sudden, vicious shove. Xuan tumbled into s.p.a.ce. He flailed, and slowly settled to land in a crouch at the base of the ramp. "You want to stay on my good side," Mills said, "then rerun your test."

Xuan came back to his feet. He had already removed the bolt from the pendulum wire-the bolt that had shortened the pendulum and made the gravitometer lie about the rock's density. Mills would kill him if he tried to reinstall it. But they were going to anyway. He might as well try. He directed Jesse and the others to take the equipment back to the location where he had done the testing earlier.

As they neared the spot, two rocketbikers came out from behind the equipment racks at high speed. They had a net stretched between them. Mills saw them and shouted, but too late-two of the hired hands got caught in the net. Xuan's night vision allowed him to see them just in time to push himself out of the way. The net swooped past. He saw that Jesse and another of the guards had leapt out of the way. In his radio headset, a young man shouted, "Professor Xuan-run!"

He didn't need to be told twice. He leapt up and out, off the mine tailings and over the shuttle-with a kick off its top fin, to launch himself higher-and arced toward the bikes, which were hauling a bouncing load of arms, legs, and a.s.ses off into the distance. The two unbound mercenaries stumbled after them, shooting. As Xuan sank beyond the shuttle, he looked back: Mills had pulled his gun. Xuan of course heard nothing, but a bullet nicked the top fin, just missing him, and blew up. Exploding bullets: nasty. The mist that dispersed after the explosion suggested they might also contain a biotoxin. Then the shuttle blocked Mills from view.

Xuan landed in a crouch, and started bounding away from the two guards. The bikers had jettisoned their net and were skidding in an arc back toward the shuttle as Jesse and the two hired hands, still enmeshed, tumbled away across the landscape. The bikers shot a new net between them just before they reached the two mercenaries still standing, and scooped them up. The bikers turned in unison, sped up the launch ramp-soared into the sky-jettisoned the net, fired their thrusters in reverse. The two netted men went flying into orbit and the bikers dropped back onto the surface.

Mills had emerged from around the ship. He landed... flailed... fell... stood again. He pointed his weapon at Xuan.

"Freeze where you are, No!" Mills still misp.r.o.nounced it. Infuriating.

As Mills shouted, one of the bikers stopped beside Xuan, throwing a fountain of spinning gravel up. "Care for a lift, Professor?"

Xuan thought he recognized the young man's face through his faceplate, but he wasn't sure. He batted the gravel aside, swung onto the bike, and grabbed hold. The other biker surged past, straight at Mills. Mills's shots went wide, as he dodged and fell in a slow, wide arc. By the time Xuan and his driver pa.s.sed Mills, he was back to his feet and shooting again-Xuan could tell from the gun's recoil. An exploding bullet hit the bike just behind his seat, blowing a hole as big as two bunched fists. Xuan was nearly thrown off by the impact. The bike swerved. More mist spread. Xuan hoped that vacuum destroyed whatever was in those bullets. His driver got it under control-the rockets flared and the bike leaped forward-Xuan hung on for dear life.

Jesse and the first two henchmen had disentangled themselves from the net by this time and bounded back toward them, firing their guns. Chunks of bullet-struck ore scattered into the black sky.

Xuan's rescuers reached the front of the shuttle and headed straight for the mine entrance. Xuan thought, This won't work. They will not be able to stop the bikes, enter the code to get the doors to open, and close them again before Mills and his henchmen are on top of us. This won't work. They will not be able to stop the bikes, enter the code to get the doors to open, and close them again before Mills and his henchmen are on top of us. But the bikers did not slow as they zoomed past the shuttle c.o.c.kpit. But the bikers did not slow as they zoomed past the shuttle c.o.c.kpit.

"Now, Amaya!" the driver shouted. Amaya!" the driver shouted.

A woman's voice in their headset said, "Heads up on your left-there's a tank!" As she spoke, the ma.s.sive door lifted, slowly, only meters away... and Xuan thought he was hallucinating. Skeletons came pouring out-leaping, capering, rising up-tumbling over one another like demented acrobats, out of a tank in the airlock.

There were so many-they were everywhere! Xuan shielded his eyes against the impact. The skeletons burst at the slightest touch. Beads went flying like buckshot, glimmering in the rays of the sun that now rose above the horizon. Both bikers blasted through the skeletons and skidded, ducking low, into the airlock. Xuan ducked, too, to avoid being struck by the still-ascending door.

Jesse and the two remaining mercenaries stumbled, slowed, took swipes at the advancing wave of skeletons. But Mills waded right through, ignoring them as they exploded all around. He was only meters away now, and leveled his gun at Xuan. "No, step out of the airlock, or die."

As he said die, die, a projectile struck him in the midsection. He went soaring backward and slammed into the shuttle's giant tire. His gun went flying, too, and skittered across the stroid's metallic surface. Orange goo covered Mills's chest and faceplate, crystallizing. a projectile struck him in the midsection. He went soaring backward and slammed into the shuttle's giant tire. His gun went flying, too, and skittered across the stroid's metallic surface. Orange goo covered Mills's chest and faceplate, crystallizing.

Someone stood at the airlock entrance-someone named Amaya? She dropped a big pipe, picked up another.

"One of you get the door!" she said. "I'll hold them off."

She pointed the pipe at Jesse and fired. A big orange projectile struck Jesse's shoulder, causing him to fall backward. The orange blob sailed up, wobbling-goo spattered the shuttle on the "Ogilvie & Sons" logo.

"I've got the door," the second driver said, and sprang from his bike toward the emergency shutdown switch. Amaya picked up and fired a different pipe gun, this one smaller, at the hired hands, who ducked, while the second biker hit the switch. The door reversed itself, started closing. The girl picked up yet another small tube and fired it. Xuan could not figure out what she was shooting. b.a.l.l.s of putty? Chemicals? Whatever they were, the makeshift launchers expelled them with enough force to knock the attackers down.

Xuan saw through the haze of churned-up dust, a.s.sembler grapes, and gravel that Mills had gotten to his feet again. He shuffled toward them, swiping at the c.r.a.p on his faceplate, batting skeletons and other sky-borne debris out of the way. Then the door locked into place.

While they waited for the lock to pressurize, Xuan turned to his rescuers. "I think you just saved my life."

"Glad to help, Professor Xuan," one of them said. Xuan peered at the one who had spoken, the driver who had picked him up.

"I know you. Are you one of my former students?"

"No, sir. I'm Geoff Agre. A friend of your son, Hugh. These are my friends, Kamal Kurupath and Amaya Toguri." The other two waved.

Xuan belatedly recognized the young man. "Of course! It's been a long time. How did you happen to be here? How did you know I was in trouble?"

"This is my stroid. We come out here sometimes just to hang out," Geoff said.

Amaya added, "We were suspicious when we saw the shuttle. They never contacted Geoff or asked permission to test our rock."

Kamal said, "Geoff and I were just heading over to ask what you were doing here when the big man started shoving you around and threatening you with a crowbar. We figured that was our cue to intervene."

"And what are those?" Xuan asked, gesturing at the pipes Amaya had used to fend off Mills and Jesse. "What did you use as projectiles?"

He caught a flash of a smile. "They're spud launchers. Well, the big ones actually launch larger vegetables. I used spoiled pumpkins."

Xuan coughed out a surprised laugh. "Excellent choice."

The clearance light came on. They removed their helmets, and yawned, equalizing the pressure in their ears, as the inner door slid open.

The young men walked their bikes in, and the woman shut the inner airlock door. "Tread carefully," Amaya warned. "a.s.sembler grapes are all over the place. I've got the ventilators on high, but a lot are still airborne."

"Clever idea with the bone dancers," Kamal remarked, as he and Geoff parked their bikes. "How did you get the tank into the lock?"

"I pushed it in with one of the ore haulers," Amaya said, with a gesture at the towing vehicles lined up near the back of the chamber. "I figured you guys could use a distraction. I peeled the top off the tank so they could get out. It sure didn't take long to fill up the airlock, either. Geoff, you'd better figure out a way to kill that program, or we're going to be up to our a.s.ses in skeletons again in no time."

Geoff said, "But at least they came in useful for something."

"You made those those?" Xuan asked, bemused.

Geoff gave him a sheepish look. "Don't tell anybody, OK?"

Xuan suppressed a smile. "I could be persuaded to remain silent. Under the circ.u.mstances."

He moved further into the main chamber. It was the typical mine entry cavern, with walls and roof gashed out by minerbot tooth and claw. The ore was primarily nickel-iron, showing signs of rust in spots-an indicator that this mine had been around awhile-and ribbed with veins of white quartz. On the cavern floor, conveyors and tracks extended into various pa.s.sages. Air circulation fans, ducts, and mine gas sampling and testing gear hung from cables attached to the metal-ore ceiling. Of course, the occasional capering skeleton that scrambled up out of small pools of liquid was non-standard issue. These, thankfully, were smaller, shorter-lived, and fewer in number than the ones outside.

"I think we'd best keep our helmets and ponies close," he said. "And let's get our air tanks charged up in case we need to make a getaway."

"Well, we do have plenty of supplies, farther down the mine," Geoff said. "But it doesn't hurt to get them charged."

"I'll take care of it," Kamal said. He gathered everyone's airpacks and bounded over to a set of recharging racks nearby. Xuan clipped his helmet to his suit, then pulled his pony bottle out of the pocket in the leg of his suit, and hooked it up to the main line under his arm. Geoff went over to the security panel, and Xuan and Amaya joined him, treading carefully on the a.s.sembler beads. Bots were already cleaning them up, but there were a lot.

Visibility was still poor outside, from all the stuff kicked up in the fight, but surveillance cameras outside the mine showed Mills and the others appeared to be heading back into the ship. Geoff fiddled with some controls.

"They've changed comm channels," he said. "What are they up to?"

"We should send out a distress signal," Xuan said. "Right away."

"Good thought!"

Geoff typed in the code. In a second or two they heard the tones of an automated distress call. He leaned back against the console with folded arms. "And now we wait."

Amaya pointed. "Um, what's he doing?" One of the hired hands was bounding down the ramp carrying a tubular object. It looked a lot like a spud launcher, only the object in it was metal and had a pointed tip. He pointed it at the mine entrance. Geoff swore.

"It's a missile launcher! Get back! Get back!"

A concussion shook the cavern, knocking Xuan down. A parts rack toppled over and pinned him. The inner lock door puckered.

A breach alarm sounded, and they could hear the hiss of air being released from the cave through a crack in the airlock seal. Rocks fell-slowly but inexorably-all around him, and crunched into the big tanks and equipment. He twisted around, tried to push the rack off his torso. Pain shot through his chest and arm.

The others were still dodging debris. A big machine fell over onto the security console, which spat sparks. Carboys were knocked over, and solvents sloshed out, forming big, floating, toxic blobs. Air contaminant alarms started whooping. Xuan could barely hear the others over the noise. The stench was overpowering and Xuan coughed.

The others leapt over the rubble toward him. Kamal found a pipe and pried the rack off of him, and Geoff and Amaya pulled him out. "Are you all right?" Geoff shouted, over the din.

Something sticky was dripping in Xuan's eyes. He put his hand to his head, and it came away red. He had a gash on his forehead. He swiped at it. Much higher gee, Much higher gee, Xuan realized, Xuan realized, and I'd have been crushed. and I'd have been crushed. Kamal handed him a cloth. He pressed it to his wound. Kamal handed him a cloth. He pressed it to his wound.

"A little banged up," he said. "Hurts to breathe or move my right arm. I've broken a rib or two, I think. What happened?"

"They've taken out our radio. And our surveillance cameras."

"We have to get out of here! Can you get the airpacks?" Kamal asked Geoff and Amaya, gesturing. "We may need them."

They set the air recharging rack upright and extracted the airpacks from the rechargers. Meanwhile, Kamal helped Xuan over the pile of rubble.

"We'd better hurry!" Amaya shouted over the alarms. "If they fire another missile, the inner lock will go."

"There are some supplies we need!" Geoff replied. "I'll get the bots to grab what they can. Amaya, take the airpacks and lead the way to one of our bolt holes!"

"West Spider Way is best!" Amaya yelled.

"Meet you there," Geoff shouted back. "Go!"

Xuan did not like the idea of Geoff staying behind, even for a moment, but he trusted the young man's judgment that they needed certain materials here, and arguing would only waste time. Besides, it hurt too much to talk.

Kamal helped him into the side pa.s.sage, while Amaya carried the airpacks. The main lights were out, but emergency lighting gave plenty of light, to Xuan's eyes. Amaya led the way down. They pa.s.sed other pa.s.sages and chambers, and through several locks. The air smelled dank, like rotting vegetation and dust. They came to a large room. Amaya dropped the airpacks into a recharging station by the door.

"I'll be right back," she said, and dashed out. Kamal helped Xuan to a chair, and went for a medkit.

Xuan looked around. This room had been outfitted as a waystation: it had firefighting equipment, air, and medical supplies. It also had bunks, a kitchen, and a console. Kamal brought the medical kit over and cleaned and bound Xuan's head wound.

"I think I have a broken collarbone," he said, "and a cracked rib."