by Timothy Zahn
Givvrac visibly relaxed. Written contracts were very important to Fillies. Even if he and I never actually signed anything, my willingness to do so would go a long way toward putting me in the trustworthy category. “No need,” he said. “Di-Master Strinni was the next strongest proponent of the Pellorian contract.”
“Really,” I said. So that was two aye votes either dead or on the critical list. “What about Master Tririn?”
“He stands against the contract,” Givvrac said. “Oddly enough, the four Shorshians were evenly split.”
“And of course, all of them knew where all the others stood?”
“Indeed,” Givvrac said. “The eight of us had several meetings together during the torchliner voyage from Earth to the Terran Tube Station.”
“Without Mr. Kennrick present, I presume?”
“You presume correctly,” Givvrac said. “Only in his absence can we speak freely on the subject.” He cocked his head in a Filly posture of consideration. “Though such opportunities were uncommon. He often joined one or another group of us for our meals.”
“Taking care to talk up the benefits of dealing with Pellorian Medical, no doubt?”
“Correct,” Givvrac agreed. “He is a tireless representative of his company.”
“I’m sure he is,” I said diplomatically. He’d probably been a tireless representative of Shotoko Associates, too, right up until the day Westali had swooped down and broken up DuNoeva’s spy ring. “So Master Colix and di-Master Strinni were for the contract. Who else?”
“Asantra Muzzfor is also on their side of the discussion,” Givvrac said. “He is one of my colleagues.”
“Yes,” I said, catching the subtle vowel difference. Colleagues they might be, but an asantra like Muzzfor was lower in rank than an usantra like Givvrac. “And the fourth?”
“I also lean in that direction,” Givvrac said. “I therefore count myself among them, though I have not entirely made up my mind.”
I nodded. “And the other opponents would then be the other two Filiaelians?”
“Esantra Worrbin and Asantra Dallilo are also against the contract,” he confirmed.
“Where do they and Asantra Muzzfor sit aboard the train?”
“All three have seats in the second of the first-class coaches, the one directly back of the exercise/dispensary car.”
“Do they sit together for the most part?”
“Yes,” Givvrac said. “To anticipate your next question, the four of us have frequently discussed the contract during this trip. Di-Master Strinni often joined us, as he too has a seat in first class.”
“And the other three Shorshians?”
“I presume they also held such conversations, though I cannot say for certain.” A shadow seemed to pass across his face. “Or rather, I presume they did when there were still three of them.”
“You haven’t spoken to them about the matter?” I asked.
“We travel in first class,” Givvrac said. “They travel in third.”
“Yes, of course,” I said. “I just thought that since Mr. Kennrick had gone back there on occasion to talk to them you might have done similarly.”
“I have not, nor have my colleagues,” Givvrac repeated firmly. “Those of first class do not mingle with those of third while aboard the train.”
Bayta nudged me, and I looked over Givvrac’s shoulder to see that Kennrick had reappeared on our side of the car, a pair of drinks in hand. “Thank you for your openness and honesty,” I said to the Filly, inclining my head. “Perhaps we can speak now of the other possible motive for these horrific crimes, namely that of revenge. Can you think of any reason why someone would be carrying anger or hatred toward either Master Colix or Master Bofiv?”
“Here we go,” Kennrick said as he came up to the table. He set the drinks down and then resumed his seat beside Givvrac. “My apologies for the delay.”
“No apologies required,” Givvrac said. “As to your question, Mr. Compton, I believe it would be inappropriate for me to speak of another’s life after his voice is silenced.”
“I understand,” I said, suppressing a grimace. Was it inappropriate to gossip about the deceased at all, or was it only inappropriate because Kennrick was now back in the conversation? “In that case, I think that’s all I need for the moment. I thank you deeply for your time and wisdom, Usantra Givvrac.”
“You are welcome,” Givvrac said. “Feel free to approach me with further questions if you have the need. Will you also wish to speak with Esantra Worrbin, Asantra Muzzfor, or Asantra Dallilo?”
“Perhaps later,” I said. “If I do, I’ll be sure to obtain your permission first.”
“No need,” he said. “I hereby grant you open access to all Filiaelians under my authority aboard this train.”
“I appreciate that,” I said, inclining my head again. Fillies weren’t the obsessive sticklers for protocol that Juriani were, but they had definite ideas of rank and chain of command. Violating those rules would burn whatever goodwill I might have started with, and could conceivably get the whole crowd of them to clam up on me completely. With Givvrac’s carte blanche in hand, at least I didn’t have to worry about that.
“Then we take our leave,” Givvrac said, placing both hands on the table and carefully getting to his feet. “Perhaps, Mr. Kennrick, you’ll assist me back to the bar area?”
“Certainly,” Kennrick said, scrambling quickly to his feet and holding out a hand where the Filly could grab it if necessary. “Compton, could you give me a hand with the drinks? I can’t handle both of them and offer Usantra Givvrac assistance at the same time.”
“Certainly,” I said, standing up.
“No need,” Givvrac said, waving me down again. “My drink has lost its taste, and Mr. Kennrick can easily handle his own.”
“Are you sure?” I asked. “It’s no trouble, I assure you.”
“I’m sure,” Givvrac said. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Compton. Mr. Kennrick?”
“Ready,” Kennrick said, picking up his own drink. As I sat down again, they turned away and started across the dining room.
And then, two steps away, Givvrac paused and retraced his steps back to our table. “One other thing, Mr. Compton,” he said. “If I may be so bold as to offer you advice in your area of expertise.”
“In my area of expertise there’s always more to learn,” I assured him, gesturing to the chair he’d just vacated. “Please speak on.”
“Thank you,” he said, making no move to sit down. “You stated that the motives for murder were passion, profit, and revenge. In your place, I would consider two additional possibilities.”
“Those being?” I asked.
“The first is honor,” he said. “With Filiaelians and Shorshians alike, damage or endangerment to one’s honor can be reason to eliminate the one who presents that threat. I don’t know if Humans feel similar motivations.”
“We do, though perhaps to a different degree,” I told him.
“And to varying degrees within our species,” Kennrick added. “Certainly there are Earth cultures that hold honor very important.”
“True,” I said. “And the second motive, Usantra Givvrac?”
His eyes burned into me. “Insanity.”
For a moment the word hung in the air like a bubble of black in a dark gray silence. Then, Givvrac gave me a final nod. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Compton. Good day.”
“Good day, Usantra Givvrac,” I replied. “Good health to you.”
“Perhaps,” he said. “We shall see.”
He headed back across the dining area, Kennrick at his side. “What do you think?” I asked Bayta.
“I was just wondering if Mr. Kennrick has figured out who was on which side of the contract discussion,” she said, her voice thoughtful.
“If Mr. Kennrick is worth anywhere near his salt, one would certainly hope so,” I said.
“Could he want the contract enough to kill to make sure it went through?”
“Unless he misread their intentions.”
“True,” I said. “But if we’re going down the profit side of the street, it would make more sense if the killer was on the other side of the deadlock.”
“Master Tririn?”
“He certainly shows promise,” I said. “He’s opposed to the contract, and he had easy access to two of the victims.”
“But not to the third,” Bayta pointed out. “Di-Master Strinni was in first class, where Master Tririn wouldn’t have been able to get to him.”
“Unless Strinni liked to go back and visit the others like Kennrick did,” I said. “Givvrac implied that he didn’t, but Givvrac may not know for sure. Or Tririn might have come up here if someone in first asked for him.”
Bayta frowned into space. “No one asked Master Tririn to come forward,” she said.
I shrugged. “It was a long shot. It’s not like Master Tririn’s been in high demand around the train the way Dr. Aronobal and Dr. Witherspoon have.”
“True,” Bayta agreed. “It also occurs to me that we only have Usantra Givvrac’s word that Master Tririn was actually opposed to the Pellorian contract.”
“Very good,” I said approvingly. “As I told Givvrac, investigations require questions and answers. But you don’t necessarily believe those answers. Any other thoughts?”
“Just this.” She pointed at Givvrac’s abandoned drink. “Do you know what this is?”
I picked it up and gave the contents a sniff. The concoction had a tangy, exotic aroma, but with no scent of alcohol that I could detect. “Not a clue,” I said.
“It’s miccrano,” she said. “A traditional Filiaelian remedy for serious stomach and digestive trouble.”
“Is it, now,” I said, eyeing the drink with new interest. “Sounds like he may be feeling more than just a bit delicate. Has he had a chat with either of our two doctors?”
Bayta’s eyes defocused as she again consulted with the Spiders. As she did so, the server appeared from the rear of the dining area with the meals we’d ordered before Kennrick first came to our table. I’d actually expected the food to show up during our conversation, which could have been a little awkward since Givvrac would certainly have insisted on a polite departure. Knowing Bayta, she’d probably telepathically instructed the Spider to hold the meals until we’d finished and our visitors had left.
Bayta’s eyes came back. “He had a conductor bring Dr. Aronobal up from third class about an hour ago,” she reported. “Dr. Aronobal is the one who recommended the miccrano to him.”
“Which also probably explains why Kennrick was here instead of in his compartment,” I said as the Spider set our plates in front of us. “Givvrac would have been in the bar, working through his tummy-soothers, when Kennrick passed by on his way to lie down. Do we know how many of them he had?”
“This was his third,” Bayta said, nodding at the glass.
“Which he never touched,” I commented, rubbing my chin. “I wonder why he decided to abandon it.”
“Maybe he was feeling better,” Bayta suggested.
“Or decided that the first two hadn’t done him any good anyway,” I said, something prickly running up my back as I eyed the glass. If someone had poisoned the drink …
I snorted under my breath. No—that one was pure paranoia. Even if Kennrick was the killer, he’d have to be crazy to poison Givvrac at a time when we knew they were having a drink together.
Still, it couldn’t do any harm to check. “Bayta, can you have the server in the dispensary bring me one of those little vials from the sampling kit?” I asked.
“Yes, of course,” she said, her voice suddenly uncertain. “You think there’s something in Usantra Givvrac’s drink?”
“No, but we might as well be thorough about this.” I picked up my fork. “Meanwhile, this isn’t getting any warmer. Let’s eat.”
The meal was up to the usual Quadrail standards. Unfortunately, it was impossible for me to properly enjoy it with my gut rumbling the way it was. Halfway through, I gave up and pushed the plate away.
Bayta was either feeling better than I was or else was stubbornly committed to not wasting any of the food her Spider friends had hauled across the galaxy for our benefit. She made it all the way through her vegetable roll, chewing silently but determinedly.
She was just finishing off her lemonade when a server Spider appeared and set a sampling vial and a small hypo on the table beside my plate.
“Thank you,” I said. Taking the hypo, I extracted a couple of milliliters of Givvrac’s drink and injected it into the vial. “I said thank you,” I repeated, looking at the Spider.
“He’s waiting for you to give back the hypo,” Bayta explained.
“Ah,” I said, reversing the instrument and holding it up. The Spider extended a leg and took it, then folded the leg up beneath his globe and tapped his way back out of the dining area. “Any news on the air filter?” I asked Bayta.
“It’s nearly done,” she said. “It should be ready by the time we get back there.”
“Good,” I said, standing up and slipping the sample vial into my pocket. “Let’s go.”
EIGHT
It was getting toward train’s evening, and the third-class passengers were starting to drift back to their seats after a busy day in the entertainment car, the exercise area, or the bar.
Which meant there was a large and curious audience already in place when Bayta and I moved toward the rear of the car and the disassembled air filter system waiting there for us.
I’d never asked Bayta what exactly the disassembly procedure entailed. Now, as we joined a group of knee-high mite Spiders and a pair of the larger conductors, I could see why the job had taken this long. A section of ceiling nearly a meter square had been taken down, probably with the help of the two conductors, and was currently hanging by thin support wires attached to its four corners at about throat level over the back row of seats. The occupants of those seats, not surprisingly, had found somewhere else to be for the moment.
“We couldn’t bring in a couple of cameras so the whole train could watch?” I grumbled as we passed our third knot of rubberneckers.
“I thought you’d want to take the sample yourself,” Bayta countered, a slight edge to her voice. Clearly, she didn’t like having the Quadrail’s innards exposed to the paying customers this way any more than I did, and she didn’t appreciate me getting on her case about it. “There’s no way you could have reached the filter while it was still in place.”
And given the tight tolerances of Quadrail floor space, there was probably nowhere more private where they could have lugged the filter assembly for the procedure. “I suppose,” I conceded.
We reached the hanging plate, and I took a moment to study its upper side. The filter assembly consisted of about a dozen boxes of various sizes and shapes scattered across the plate, all of them marked with incomprehensible dot codes. They were connected to each other by a bewildering and colorful spaghetti of tubes, ducts, cables, and wires. Other tubes and conduits, carefully sealed off, ran to the edges of the plate, where presumably they connected to equipment tucked away above the rest of the ceiling. The plate itself had sixteen connectors, four per side, for fastening it to the rest of the ceiling. The connectors, I noted, were accessible only from above. It was pretty clear that no one was going to tamper with the system without Spider help. “Which one do I want?” I asked Bayta.
“That one,” she said, pointing to the largest of the boxes. “The Spiders will take off the cover for you.”
“Thanks,” I said, looking down at the mites grouped around us like shiny seven-legged lap dogs. “Do they need a boost?”
“No,” Bayta said, and I quickly stepped back as a pair of fist-sized twitters appeared from inside the ceiling and deftly slid down the corner lines onto the exposed m
achinery. Picking their way across the miniature landscape, they reached the box Bayta had indicated and started removing one of its sides.
“Here,” Bayta said, pressing a pair of sample vials into my hand. “Will you need a hypo or scraper?”
“Got one, thanks,” I said, pulling out my multitool and selecting one of the blades. The twitters got the filter’s side off, and I leaned in for a closer look.
I’d expected to find some sort of thin but tangible layer of fluffiness, the sort of thing you might find in an office building air filter that hadn’t been replaced for a few weeks. But the dimpled white material sitting in front of me looked as clean and fresh as if it had come right out of the box.
It looked, in fact, like some industrious Spider had given it a thorough cleaning sometime in the past few hours. And if one of them had, this whole thing was going to be a complete waste of time. “You did warn the Spiders not to clean it, didn’t you?”
“Of course,” Bayta said. “It hasn’t been touched since Homshil.”
“Looks pretty clean to me,” I pointed out.
“It’s the third-stage filter,” she said: “It always looks clean.”
I suppressed a grimace. Of course it did. All the larger dust and lint particles would have been captured by a larger-mesh filter somewhere upstream in the system. But it was this filter that would have a shot at trapping impurities the size of cadmium atoms and compounds. “Just making sure,” I said, trying to salvage a little dignity.
Experimentally, I gently scraped the multitool blade along one edge of the filter. A small cascade of fine white powder appeared and drifted slowly downward. Moving the blade to a different part of the filter, I held one of the vials in position and scraped more of the white powder into it. I waited until the dust had settled and then handed the vial to Bayta for sealing. I repeated the operation on a third section of the filter, again handing the vial to Bayta when I was done. “That should do it,” I told her. Folding the blade back into the multitool, I turned around.
And stopped short. Standing three meters away, right in the center of the ring of gawkers, was the Filly I’d had the brief tussle with earlier that day in the third-class bar. He was staring at me with an intensity I didn’t at all care for. “Can I help you?” I asked.
