Sliding Scales

by Alan Dean Foster

  Adopting the notion of the single saboteur as his research mantra, Joofik had set about the laborious task of collating forensics. Instead of trying to work his way up to identifying possible groups, he winnowed the available information down—down until it led him to a few dozen unlikely individual suspects. A month's work of monitoring the movements of these individual natives gradually reduced the number of possibles one by one, until he was left, at last, with only a single suspect.

  As best as he could trace them, the movements of this penultimate entity on the days that both the AAnn complex at Morotuuver and the import-export service offices in Aulauwohly had been devastated by explosions were sufficient to damn the suspect creature. At the very least, an excited Joofik recognized, the indicated individual should be subjected to some serious questioning. If he was correct in his work and in his subsequent assumptions, he realized, the result could likely be swift promotion and accolade. Naturally, he told no one else. To have done so would not merely have been imprudent, it would have been un-AAnn. All the glory and reward should deservedly be his.

  In order to secure his triumph he needed to present his data to someone in a position to both verify and act on it, in addition to guaranteeing its discoverer the credit he was due. Joofik could have gone directly to Keliichu, the senior administrator. But the senior administrator was responsible for far more than the hunt for the Vsseyan extremists. Below him were several secondary administrators. The most obvious of these to present with the information he had gathered was Takuuna VBXLLW, the head of the special unit that had been created to track the perpetrators of the two atrocities. Transferring all the relevant information to his personal work tablet, he locked it down and made certain nothing remained within the Administration's system for the curious to uncover.

  Though not the chief administrator, Takuuna VBXLLW also seemed to be exceptionally busy of late. It took several days for the persistent Joofik to arrange a meeting. As Takuuna's work schedule was overfull, they agreed to meet not in an office but in a rejuvenation lounge at the end of the day.

  When Joofik arrived at the designated meeting place, Takuuna was already there, sitting beneath a sandfall of powdered, recycled silica, a tired bureaucrat relaxing beneath the caress of glittering particles and the soothing sound of synthetic windrush tones reverberating in the background. Though large enough to hold a dozen or more AAnn, the lounge was empty save for the two of them—no doubt because it was well after duty hours. Except for the recently arrived minimal staff necessary to keep operations running smoothly during the Jastian night, the compound had been rapidly deserted by its weary diurnal occupants.

  “Honorable Ssecondary Adminisstrator.” Joofik gestured effusively as he began to remove his garments. Instead of a sandfall, he chose to sit beneath a hot air blower opposite the older nye.

  Takuuna eyed the junior bureaucrat with tolerant disdain. He would have called the meeting off had he not felt the need for a time-part or two of augmented repose. Though his private apartment was comfortable enough, it was neither large enough nor sufficiently well equipped to support an extravagance as expensive as a silica sandfall. So he had magnanimously agreed to meet this unknown low-ranker at a timeplace that was convenient for him, thereby accomplishing two ends simultaneously. He hissed through the wisps of falling sand. The sooner he was rid of the subordinate, the sooner he could slip into a voluntary semi-comatose state beneath the sparkling veil.

  “Nsshasst, what iss it that you have for me that cannot be forwarded via the ussual channelss, worker Jaalit?”

  “Joofik,” his anxious caller corrected him. Cloaked in the delightfully hot artificial breeze, the younger nye struggled to unlimber his tablet. “I have sspent much free time reaching the conclussions that I am about to pressent to you, honored Secondary Adminisstrator. I would not wissh them widely disseminated until proper accreditation had been prepared.”

  Takuuna replied with a gesture of third-degree tolerance. That, at least, was understandable, even if it was doubtful such precaution was required. “Get on with it,” he urged his visitor irritably.

  “Truly, honored ssir”—Joofik continued to fumble with his suddenly recalcitrant tablet—“I believe that I have for you that for which you have been ssearching for ssome time now, ssir.”

  Takuuna blinked away glittering particles and sat up a little straighter, so that the sandfall struck the back of his head and ran down his spine instead of cascading over his face and jaws. Despite the warmth of the silicates and the cocoon-like lounge, he felt a slight chill. “And for what have I been ssearching, youngling?”

  “Why, in your capacity as head of the sspecial unit in charge of locating the native terrorisstss, you have been looking for thosse ressponssible, of coursse.” A vast hiss of pleasure escaped the junior bureaucrat's jaws. “And I have found it for you.”

  “ ‘It’? Not ‘them’?” Lassitude, thoughts of lingering relaxation long forgotten, Takuuna was fully alert now. This might all be nonsense, of course—but if there was an inkling of useful information in it …

  “That wass the key to my ssuccess.” Joofik's neck swelled with pride. “To sseek one who might have been overlooked in the ssearch for many. It wass the correct approach to take. I am convinced of it.”

  “I ssee. And what iss it you have found that convincess you?”

  “Thiss, ssarrick.” Joofik finally succeeded in activating the compact device he had brought with him.

  In the sere atmosphere of the lounge, images coalesced in the dry, sterile air between them. Takuuna swiftly scanned the charts and lists that Joofik had compiled. Records of movements, of personal histories. Lines that inexorably connected places, events, and individuals. All of it uniting around the figure of a single Vssey. There was a three-dimensional likeness that meant nothing to him: all Vssey looked the same. Unsettled more than he would have cared to admit by the charting's comprehensiveness, there was also an attached name his eyes skipped over: Vsseyan names were nothing but a barbaric oral diarrhea of vowels, anyway. Moving completely out from beneath the flow of heated particles, he studied the details of the charting more closely.

  “You have been mosst active. Thiss ressearch would appear to be very thorough.”

  “It iss, fssasst!” Joofik hissed with pardonable pride. “I have checked and rechecked. Tracking the evidence, the only possible conclussion a logical nye can reach iss that the indicated individual native iss not only ressponssible for the atrocitiess againsst our people, it iss ssolely ressponssible.”

  Takuuna gestured understanding. “It sseemss asstonisshing that a ssingle persson, and a native at that, could have ssuccessfully planned and implemented both devasstating actss of aggression againsst uss.”

  The junior bureaucrat enthusiastically agreed. “That iss one thing that hass worked to itss advantage. Until now. Until I began narrowing as oppossed to expanding the area of ressearch. A ssingle Vssey wass eassy to overlook.”

  “Certainly a valid, and apparently a rewarding, approach to the problem we have been facing. You are to be commended, Joofik.”

  “My thankss to you, Honored Adminisstrator.” The delighted subordinate saw the results of all his hard work coming to fruition.

  “And you are certain thiss native hass been working alone? It hass not, for example, received any assisstance, material or otherwisse, from a vissiting alien? A human?”

  “A ssoftsskin?” Joofik gestured second-degree bewilderment. “How iss that possible, honored ssir? I have heard talk recently of a human here on Jasst, but only of one.”

  “Your honesst confussion ansswerss my quesstion.” A composed Takuuna gestured at the subordinate's tablet. “You are entirely ressponssible for thiss line of ressearch, and have conducted it ssolely by yoursself?”

  Joofik straightened slightly in the wash of heated air. “Truly, honored ssir, I have assked for no help and have received none! No one elsse iss aware of what I have been doing. It iss wholly mine, carried out entirel
y on my own time and out of view or quesstion of any of my coworkerss.”

  Takuuna gestured understanding. “Naturally, having done all the work, you dessire all the credit. That iss as it sshould be. You have taken sstepss to enssure that it remainss sso?”

  The junior administrator gestured with his tablet. As he did so, the images of charts and graphs that had occupied the air between them vanished. “It would be foolish to sstore the relevant information anywhere else lesst it be open to possible access by the curiouss. Think of what thiss will mean to your own divission, Ssecondary Adminisstrator! The sspecial unit that hass been created to ssearch for the Vsseyan radicalss can be dissbanded, at a conssiderable ssavings to general adminisstration and to the Imperial budget here on Jasst. Though the nowidentified perpetrator doess move around, it sshould be a ssimple matter for a few of your people to locate and capture a ssingle native.”

  “I concur. In the abssence of a large consspiracy among the Vssey, the sspecial unit will no longer be needed. For your information, there iss a human active here on Jasst. The factss you have jusst laid before me are more than enough to clear it of any wrongdoing.” He moved closer to the junior bureaucrat, who rose proudly at his superior's approach. “Tomorrow you musst come with me to pressent your material to the ssenior adminisstrator, who will undoubtedly resspond as eagerly as mysself to the fruitss of your demanding effortss.

  “But now, it iss quite late. Your revelationss have sspurred me to act on them immediately.”

  “I am only glad to have been of ssome ssmall sservice,” Joofik replied with appropriate modesty.

  “Time now for both of uss to get ssome resst.” Preparatory to bidding his visitor good night, Takuuna approached and turned his head to the side. Joofik politely did the same, reaching out with his right hand, claws retracted. Takuuna responded in kind, with one small but notable exception.

  He did not retract his claws.

  14

  The highly active AAnn had higher blood pressure than that of the average human and considerably higher than that of the average thranx. As a result, when the suddenly lunging Takuuna tore out the junior bureaucrat's throat, there was a great deal of blood. Though a stunned Joofik instinctively tried to fight back, kicking out and clawing wildly at his attacker with both hands, his initial vulnerability had already sealed the outcome of the contest. He did not die quietly, but die he did.

  As the junior worker's life fluids seeped into the sterile sands that comprised the flooring of the lounge, Takuuna moved quickly to the single entranceway. No alarm had been raised, the waiting room beyond was still dim and deserted, and there was no sign that another living being anywhere within the compound was aware of the brief instant of shocking violence that had occurred in the relaxation zone. Returning to the still-bleeding body, a thoughtful Takuuna picked up the dying Joofik's personal work tablet. After carefully tucking it away among his own belongings, he pondered how best to deal with the corpse.

  The in-built mechanisms with which the self-cleaning, self-sanitizing lounge was equipped would deal as efficiently with the copious amount of blood as it would with any other volume of spilled liquid. Within a few time parts, it would once again be as dry and sanitary as when the administrator had first entered it. The physical remnants of the innocent subordinate who had been on the verge of crashing down in ruins everything Takuuna had worked to build up presented a greater problem. It was highly unlikely the administrator would be able to smuggle so sizable a burden out past the night watch, all of whom had been placed on heightened alert ever since the first of the incidents against the AAnn presence.

  That meant that the body would have to remain within the administrative compound. That was not a potentially grave problem. What mattered was how, where, and under what circumstances it would eventually be found. Takuuna was confident he could find a solution to the conundrum. Setting his mind to the task, it was not long before he did so.

  Hauling the body from the lounge, he placed it on a small cart used for transporting local supplies and covered it with an assortment of items taken from the lounge area that were unlikely to arouse suspicion in anyone who might happen to see them. Returning briefly, he restored the lounge itself to as natural an appearance as possible. The lounge machinery was already beginning to clean up the mess he had left behind.

  Guiding the cart through the dimly lit night corridors of the administrative compound, he made his way to the destination he had chosen. It was only by good fortune that he knew the personal code-key that unlocked the door of the workplace he had chosen. Once inside, he settled on a storage closet as the temporary resting place of the meddlesome junior administrator. Removing the corpse from the cart, he dumped it unceremoniously inside. That done, he exited the location, but not before reentering the locking code on the doorway to seal the workplace behind him. The cart he returned to the location where he had found it.

  Then, much relieved in mind and soul, he left the administration center and made his way back to his private apartment. After spending a few busy timeparts planning out the next day's activities, he then retired contentedly to his sandy divan, where he entered without turning or tossing into a sleep that was calm, sound, and without remorse.

  Arriving at the compound the following morning and preparing to pass through Security, he remarked to the last guard who was checking him through that the workers striding back and forth in the main corridor appeared to be in an unusually garrulous mood.

  “You have not yet heard the news, then, Honored Adminisstrator?” the guard asked, punctuating the query with a third-degree gesture of personal unease.

  “Apparently not,” Takuuna replied, though he had more than a slight suspicion as to the nature of the news the guard was about to impart.

  The sturdily built younger nye's reply was a hiss-filled mixture of indignation and disbelief. “A good nye wass found murdered. Right here, inside the compound.” His disbelief was plain.

  “Murdered, truly?”

  “Truly.” The guard added a gesture of second-degree astonishment.

  “Doess the Authority have any idea who might be ressponssible? Vsseyan extremisstss, perhapss?”

  A simple, unrated gesture of negativity. “I undersstand that they are holding a ressearcher named Geelin for quesstioning, as the body of the unfortunate wass found in her place of work. I hear that the female vigoroussly professess her innocence, and that her reactionss appear to be clouded by bewilderment. Thosse sseeking the truth of the tragedy are as yet unconvinced.”

  Takuuna voiced and gestured sadness. “It iss regrettable to think that while attempting to pressent a more civilized example to our primitive hossts we can sstill ssuffer ssuch foolisshness among oursselves.”

  As he passed the administrator through, the guard gesticulated glum agreement.

  Takuuna was not so cold that he did not feel a twinge of guilt for what he had done. Regrettably, he'd had no choice. Saddled with a body in need of quick disposal, he had proceeded as expeditiously as circumstances had allowed. One could wish that the resourceful and intelligent Geelin would be able to extricate herself from the awkward situation into which he had cast her. He hoped so. He would enjoy mating with her again. If not, well, the list of females available to someone with his present status was extensive. He did not expect to lack for company. He would move on.

  But before he could continue to expand upon his personal as well as his professional life, there was a certain small snag that needed to be dealt with, a persistent irritation, like a scale parasite, that needed to be removed. To accomplish the necessary excision he requisitioned a force of six armed troopers and a suitable aircar. In proceeding, he was exceeding his mandate from the Authority and thereby risking censure. He was prepared to deal with the potential consequences, gambling they would not be too severe. In any event, while his superiors deliberated the matter of possible punishment, the human, his story of survival, and any accusations he might be prepared to level would be re
ndered moot.

  Takuuna was confident in his ability to survive the aftermath of his actions. If the worst threatened to befall, he could always remind them of his irreplaceable brilliance by ordering the arrest of the one Vssey now known to be involved in the violent acts that had been perpetrated against the AAnn presence. The Administrator did not want to do that since it would mean the end of his special unit and the unique status that came from heading it. But the lever was there, if needed, and he could always push it.

  Besides, how severely would any fellow nye really want to punish him for the killing of a human?

  Gathering his small strike force, he departed Skokosas in high spirits and with the requisitioned aircar operating under a privacy seal, the latter a precaution so that no one could, should they suspect his intent, get in contact with him until he returned. His penitence over the framing of his mating partner Geelin receded as steadily as each new patch of Jastian landscape flew past beneath the aircar.

  Softly hissing sorrow, a mournful Yuuvab DDMWWLG let her eyes linger as they roamed over the remnants of her mating partner's short life. There wasn't much. Work attire, casual attire, personal entertainment blocs, the well-strummed, thick-stringed tharp with which he used to serenade her prior and subsequent to their ritual skirmishing, and very little else. There was no reason for there to be more. As transients in a non-Imperial world, Authority staff brought with them only the minimum deemed necessary to manage life. Joofik had been no exception.

  Of similar mind, taste, and hopes, they had considered making permanent their traditional intermittent mating. Now that had been reduced to dream ashes, perhaps by the awful individual Geelin, who continued to steadfastly deny any involvement in the junior administrator's death. It did not matter whether the other female was responsible or not, Yuuvab reflected. Her mating partner was dead.