CHAPTER 47: BACK ON BASE, AS EVENING FALLS
Celene looked to the sky in irritation. This was her doing. Was that brief act of spite worth it? she asked herself. Yes. His discomfit is greater than mine. According to the protocols of her upbringing, that was considered a positive result.
Sussex had tried to disassociate himself from PlanCon with a rapidity that encouraged her to believe that his analytical skills remained intact. Those skills might have assisted her. Yet in a moment of vindictiveness she had removed that possibility.
Her position as Senior Psychologist was to have been his reward. She reminded him of that by denying his requests and issuing directions of her own, using the very power that he coveted to consign him to the continued company of his former faction.
‘This sweep of the deep will provide you with ample time to institute the systematic evaluation scheme which you and Commander Colda feel has such great promise. So great, as I remember, that you exempted yourself from the normal rotation of duties. Well, now you have my support, and more importantly, my order as the Senior in our service, to continue.’ Two to three months in deep space with Colda should teach him something. ‘Take four of our people to assist. If you have a problem with my direction you can of course take it up with Commander Quartermaine.’ She couldn’t help adding this last to show him how poor his judgment had been.
Now it was her judgment that she debated, the decisions of that day. ‘Come back to bite her on the arse’ as Tollen would say. Among the four psychs that had accompanied Sussex were the two who had preceded Briodi in Med. Not such a surprise considering the small number in their service. A possibility she should have foreseen.
Her present concern had started out small, a minor detail, probably of little significance. Her frustration arose from not being able to put it to rest. She had Briodi’s personal notebook in her pocket. It had been recovered from Donen’s body. Pages had been ripped out, apparently those containing references to the caretaker’s state, for there was no mention of him, or indeed, of any of the caretakers, in the pages that remained. This was intriguing. Why would Donen remove the pages if the notebook was in his possession? Did the words offend him so much that they had to be destroyed? If so, then why not the whole notebook? Was the notebook a connection with Briodi? Is that why he kept it? Did he have a fascination for her? She was a beauty. Was there a sexual motivation on top of fear of detection and whatever the Box had instilled? The blows to her body certainly evidenced hate directed to her sex. Perhaps he felt rejected. Perhaps that was the trigger to his actions.
A check of this possibility should have been an easy matter. Briodi was too accomplished in her craft to miss an attachment. Infatuations often developed during the close association of counselling. They were not considered to be private. In addition to whatever comments she set down in her personal notebook, Briodi would have also recorded such a development in the duty notebook at Med.
Celene had gone to Med, but there the mystery had been compounded. The duty notebook from Briodi’s tour was missing, as were those from the two preceding tours. Donen may have observed Briodi writing in the current duty copy. That would explain its removal. But not the others. Official records listed Donen on customs duty and satellite maintenance during those tours. He had no contact with Med or Psych. He had hardly been on Base for most of that time. Yet something in those notebooks threatened him … or his masters.
Another avenue lay open to her. Not quite working in circles but close. The other personal notebooks, like Briodi’s in her pocket. However, thanks to her spite, the notebooks she needed to peruse were with their owners somewhere in the Gap Quadrant. PlanCon had completed their embarkation more than a week ago. Every moment took them further away. It would take weeks to obtain copies of the notebooks and any such request would have to be passed through Colda’s operational staff and, inevitably, Sussex.
Hence, her frustration, or at least part of it.
She had to accept Donen as Briodi’s killer. The evidence of blood and blade was too compelling. The same kind of evidence was testament to his role in the killings here on the roof. But she did not believe that he had acted on his own, the interpretation that the rest of Base seemed anxious to adopt. He was a tool. That’s all. Manipulated by someone, or some group, with sufficient expertise. She, herself, was capable of it. Colda may have someone hidden in his retinue with similar competence. Alternatively, Sussex may have done it.
She did not want this last to be true. It not only implied that she had underestimated her colleague, but that he was smarter and less principled than her. She was not prepared to concede either of those domains to him. If he was here now, I would break him, find out his role in this matter. But he is not, is he?
Celene capped her irritation and returned her gaze to the rooftop around her. Inconsistencies. That is what I am here on the roof to check. That I can accomplish. Maybe here I can find a lead, a connection. She had asked Nata to join her, to go over the actions on the rooftop the night Donen died. She was not surprised to find him sitting on the parapet not ten steps from her, waiting patiently. He was one person that she had never underestimated.
‘Nata. There you are.’ She launched right in. ‘I have not been able to resolve all that occurred here on the night of the killings to my satisfaction. Donen’s psychosis must be understood.’ A good reason, professional, acceptable, unfortunately not her main motivation. Nata does not need to know that. ‘My difficulties arise from the varied emotional states that underlay Donen’s actions. The changes are too rapid. At first, he is fearful and suicidal. ‘Cowering’ was the description passed to Visco by the security men that found him. Yet within minutes, he is able to carry out an attack.’
‘Fear can make a man lash out,’ offered Nata.
‘Two trained men on their guard overcome? A manic burst so extreme that it surprised them? Yet one was killed carefully with a single blow while the other was hacked to death in a frenzy. Within seconds of each other. Then suddenly Donen becomes suicidal again. And carries this out. All too quick. We have the timing from Visco and from the observations your friend Elsewise made.’ She had approached the small man as she talked and was close enough in the dim light to make out his expression. It bore an uncommon seriousness.
‘And the conclusions from your interpretation are … ?’ asked Nata.
‘Conspiracy.’ She hated offering that word with no proof and with its connotations of paranoia but that was her conclusion. ‘He did not do this alone.’
Nata was quiet for so long that she thought she might have offended him. Officially this was his investigation. ‘I am sorry if you feel that I have impinged upon your duty, but I have an equal obligation,’ she offered.
He waved away both her apology and the need to make it in a simple gesture. ‘Let us walk through the events of that night,’ he said. He directed her to a spot against the parapet.
‘That is where Donen went over the wall. We will assume that it is the same position that he started in. The two security men approach from this direction, from the stairwell.’ He moved to take their place. ‘Initially Donen cowers against the wall. Then he climbs up onto it. The security men stop. They approach no further.’
Nata motioned for her to climb up on the parapet. She was reluctant. ‘Why up on the wall?’ she asked.
‘The security men carry stunners. They have been warned that he is dangerous. Their orders are to subdue him. If he remained against the wall they would have simply stunned him, secured him and taken him below.’
Again he motioned to her. This time she climbed up. Damn, it’s high. The night was getting darker. She could barely make out the ground. It made it seem very far away.
‘Now they are unable to use their stunners. There is too great a chance that Donen might fall from the wall. Instead they call Visco who in turn calls you, Celene, at Med. Is that reasonable?’
‘Yes. They would need a psych to talk him down and Visco knew that Donen was
my priority. That I was to be informed immediately if he was found.’ He is taking this wider than just the actions on the roof. Could he share my doubts?
‘You are not available so Visco contacts Sussex who happens to be in the PlanCon offices close by.’
She answered his unasked question. ‘Sussex had reason to be in PlanCon. He is currently assigned there. Sub-commander Visco visits often and would likely be aware of Sussex’s proximity.’
‘This all takes time,’ continued Nata. ‘Meanwhile you, Donen, are still on the wall. You are frightened. You do not want to be taken by these two security men. You do not want to die but that is preferable to being apprehended. Is this consistent with the play of feelings you are experiencing?’
Celene had almost forgotten about her dangerous perch in her excitement over the direction of Nata’s questions. It came back to her with a thrill of fear. ‘Yes.’
‘Now there must be a change.’ He raised one arm and bounced a pointing finger. ‘To bring you down off the wall, this way, toward me. If they had lunged for you, your reaction would have been to pull back and go over. Finished. So that is not their motion. If they step back, you could come down, but then they would stun you. All over. If they turn away, you could attack.’ He lifted his palm to forestall her comments. ‘I leave the motivation to you. I describe possibilities of movement only.’ He turned around and ordered. ‘Jump and strike for my shoulders.’
She did and fell short. Arms up to strike, she landed awkwardly and went to her knees and tumbled against the back of his legs. Angry and embarrassed she got to her feet as he turned. ‘I know. I am small and not very athletic. Donen may have reached you.’ She dusted her knees. ‘Is this your conclusion? That he saw a chance and murderously took it?’ That could account for one, but the other? Her mind worked fast. Stun. Elsewise reported the blue glow of stun. Donen could have killed this one and used his stunner on the other. Damn. It was a possibility, and to be honest, which she did not want to be, the Box may have had such a profound effect upon Donen’s psychology that it was no longer within her understanding. His moods could be mercurial, set to stimuli beyond her ken.
Nata was smiling. It surprised and hurt her. Not that he would be aware of the contribution from the Box. After all, he had seen its effects close at hand, on someone as impervious as his friend, Elsewise. No. It was the condescension that she saw in his eyes. She did not expect it of him and was ashamed that she deserved it.
‘No,’ said Nata.
She didn’t understand.
‘The blood from the wound sprayed forward, toward the wall. The body also fell forward. A blow from behind would have driven both toward the stairwell. If the guard had become aware of the attack and was turning, the arc of the blood would have been greater. The contact would still drive the body back. Both men would go down.’ He acted out the movement. ‘There was no blood from this victim on the caretaker,’ said Nata from the ground. ‘That is unlikely, tangled as they would have been.’ The small man rose as effortlessly as smoke. He smiled again, and this time she read it true. Commiseration not condescension.
‘I too believe in a conspiracy, terrible as those implications may be. Let us try to integrate our theories.’ Nata walked past, put one hand on the wall and turned to address her. ‘The first victim was killed from behind. By someone he trusted to approach closely. Not Donen. The evidence of blood and our assessment of movements tell us that. However, the second man was hacked to death by the caretaker. The evidence for that is undeniable. Blood, bone, flesh. So much of this that when Donen rolled over the wall to his own death he left a stain of the other man’s blood almost the full length of his body. But that takes us too far. We must go back. Settle our concerns. Eliminate discrepancies.’
He took a breath and started again. ‘Donen attacks the second guard. A mad leap followed by a rain of blows. From fear to frenzy. A transition easier to accept now that we have removed from his account the coldly efficient disposal of the first guard. Possibly triggered by the chance of escape. A fine scenario … but not complete. Evidence intrudes.’
Celene had the feeling that Nata was presenting his case to a greater audience.
‘There were no defensive wounds on the second man,’ he continued. ‘A trained man, on his guard, that died relatively slowly?’
There had been cuts on Briodi’s arms. Celene remembered them, both bloody and clean. She would not forget any of those wounds, ever.
‘An explanation? We have the Scholar’s observations indicating that stun was employed,’ said Nata. ‘Logic ascribes this action to the methodical accomplice.’
Celene nodded her agreement to keep Nata from expounding. If he takes us through all the steps of his reasoning, we will be here all night.
‘At this point, Donen is no longer under immediate threat. He knows that Security has been alerted but they have not reached the roof yet. He could flee. His colleague does this successfully. We see no trace of him. Instead, Donen goes over the wall to his death. How could this be? The problem of motivation that originally troubled you has been made worse by our invention of the accomplice.’ Nata stopped.
Please don’t go back to the beginning, thought Celene.
The small man smiled. ‘Again an explanation arises from the observations made by the Scholar. We can move the action along. Elsewise reports that the blue flash of a stunner occurred twice, minutes apart. Actually, his faculties are so accurate as to be able to document this to the second, relative to the official time on Base or to almost any time scheme we could wish to employ all the way back to the Inner Belt.’ Nata paused, apparently lost in admiration for his friend.
Celene took the opportunity to think ahead. The mystery man stuns Donen after the killings, lifts him onto the parapet and rolls him over the edge to his death. Not what you would expect from an accomplice. This man was there for his own reason. The elimination of the caretaker.
She laid a hard gaze on Nata. He had said ‘rolled to his death’ at the start of his exposition. ‘How long have you known?’
‘Known? We still do not know. Suspected,’ he corrected. ‘From the first day. Because of the pattern of the blood, the wounds, and the position of bodies. What I am used to. Like you I perceived a contrast in the first two deaths. Sadly, I do not have the true skills of a scholar. I was slow to identify and assemble the critical details. Several should have been clear to me from the onset. Many I had to revisit. Even now, I could not mount a prosecutable case.’
Prosecutable? Who gives a damn about legalities!
‘A connection to the faction, yes,’ continued Nata. ‘But not the identities of the participants.’
‘The faction!’ Celene could not keep the excitement from her voice.
‘Yes. The two victims, or I should say, the first two victims, are the two that shadowed the Scholar and I on the day of his arrival. I have searched long for these two. Until this time, they had succeeded in avoiding my scrutiny. It would have been better for them if they had failed.’ He shrugged. ‘Their bodies were identified. They are on our list from the Box. House assassins, I believe. I do not see their deaths as coincidental. There was a great deal of tidying up done that night, to the benefit of the House faction.’ The sad smile, the earlier one that he had shared with her, returned to his face.
He means Donen also. He has considered implications that I was only guessing at. Briodi. Tracka-dan. She turned away so that Nata could not see her eyes. Briodi. Her death may not have resulted from the discovery of the caretaker’s psychosis. Colda was unaccounted for that night. Captain Karron’s confession implied that Colda was not in his quarters. Celene had that out of the security officer in one sitting. He and his companion had been searching for the PlanCon Commander. On orders out of PlanCon. That is what placed them near the murder scene. To find him and return him, no matter what state he was in.
If I find that Briodi’s death was manipulated to appease and sate Colda, I will kill them all. Colda and all those that
assisted him in this. She blinked the murder out of her eyes and turned back to Nata. ‘Have you advised Commander Quartermaine?’ she asked.
‘Yes.’
‘And he has done nothing?’
‘Nooo. I would not say ‘nothing’. Not the Commander. He has acted. That weapon is no longer available to them.’ Nata swung his hand over the top of the parapet to indicate Donen’s end. ‘And those most likely to have been involved have been isolated, their potential to inflict more harm greatly reduced. Time has been gained to investigate.’
‘All of PlanCon is up there with them … and the Blues and RARS,’ said Celene.
‘The Commander has never truly accepted PlanCon into the Guard, not in his heart. As for the Blues, they must learn not to misplace their loyalty. Quartermaine is a hard man,’ concluded Nata.
‘The RARS?’ asked Celene.
‘They were necessary for the numbers but they are the best in the Guard under adversity. They will cope. Yet there should be no cause for harm up there. As far as the conspirators are concerned, all their enemies are here.’
‘If they were here, now, I would settle it, here, now,’ said Celene.
‘Do not underestimate them. Quartermaine does not. They have proven to be unscrupulous, extreme in the actions they will consider and efficient in their execution. You, on your own, may not be a match for them.’
The scum of the worlds and I might just not be a match for them. Well, thank you, Nata. But it was good advice and he had more for her, albeit of a practical nature.
The Return of the Grey Page 30
