I waited.
He said nothing.
“I could go to the Planetary Council and ask for orbit station records of extra-atmospheric flights.”
“You could.”
“How many magfield shuttles did you lose?” I had him with that question, because somewhere there had to be a record of that. All aerial or orbital craft accidents had to be reported, and with satellite links, there was no way to avoid it, but I was angling for the follow-up question.
“Two.”
“With all data lost?”
“That’s a matter of multi privacy, Doctor.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re most welcome. Is there anything else?”
“For the moment, no.”
Edo smiled, pleasantly, but he couldn’t quite make his eyes match the rest of his face. “Then … until we talk again.”
The screen blanked.
By his response, he was willing to let me know, very much off the record, and in a way that could never be used in any proceeding, that they had collected some data, and that it had cost them two magfield shuttles—two very expensive magfield shuttles. He wasn’t happy about letting me know, but he’d judged that totally stonewalling me would likely cause more problems. His nonadmission admission told me that RDAEX thought obtaining such data was extremely important … and potentially extraordinarily profitable. The other implications worried me even more, though.
I was about to put a link through to Geneil Paak when Aloris appeared in my doorway.
“Yes.”
“You’ve been very busy…”
“I have been … and everything at Syntex took so much longer than I’d ever expected.” That was certainly true, and I hoped that she took it the way I tried to convey. “And then there was the business with the fitness centers. I was trying to look for somewhere to work out … and all the fitness centers … well … they weren’t what I’d have called fitness centers…”
Aloris laughed. “You should have tried looking up Physical Enhancement Centers. There are a number of quite pleasant ones. All with individual private facilities, of course.”
Physical enhancement centers? “Private mini-exercise facilities?” For a moment that didn’t seem to make sense. Then I nodded. “Anything public becomes too competitive for men?”
“And for some women.”
“And fitness centers are covert fight clubs?”
“So it’s said.”
I shook my head.
“How did things go at Syntex?”
“Long. I went to see their forerunner site. I was hoping to see if their excavations revealed anything unusual about the ecological history of Stittara. All that took longer than I planned. They were kind enough to give me quarters the night before last, but I didn’t leave there until early midafternoon yesterday.” Some of that she already knew, but I was trying to see her reactions.
“Were you successful in finding anything?”
“More than I expected, but less than I’d hoped.” I managed a rueful smile. “Isn’t it always that way?”
“You were in early this morning, Dermotte said.”
“I was trying to catch up before I go to ABP.”
“Oh … the repairs on your quarters are done. You can return any time.”
“I just might do that.”
“If you need anything … we’re here to help.”
“Thank you.”
Then I put a link through to Geneil Paak. Since I’d met her in person, I didn’t need to go down there, and I really didn’t want to walk that far down … and especially back up, not when I’d likely be walking around ABP before long. She wasn’t there.
So I made sure I had transport to ABP, and then tried to search out the geologic records I wanted. I couldn’t find them, and I was getting frustrated, and more than edgy, when the console screen told me Geneil was returning my call.
I accepted.
She looked concerned. “Was there a problem with my list?”
“No. Not in the slightest. Believe it or not, I have some geology questions for you that relate to my assignment.”
Her face registered mild surprise.
“I just got back from visiting the Syntex forerunner site and talking to the archaeologists there…” I went on to explain what Barro had told me, then asked, “Is there any way to determine if that sudden mud flood was local, regional, continental…”
She almost laughed. “We’d have to drill to that depth all over the planet … and probably deeper.”
“I was afraid of that. What about seismic studies?”
“For single layer of ten meters down about a hundred meters … that would require an environmental impact that the Survey would find unacceptable … and costs no one would want to fund. We don’t get much help from the planet, either, because Stittara has comparatively few large shifts in tectonic plates or that much volcanism.”
“I’ve wondered about that. How can that be? The core is larger and warmer than normal for a T-type world and plate shifts and volcanism are far lower?”
“It just could be that we’re living in a stable period. We’ve only been here a thousand years. There have definitely been large movements and great volcanism in the past. The other forerunner sites—and there are probably a lot more we know nothing about … The old scans are suggestive, but we don’t have the money, and neither does the Antiquities Commission.” She frowned, then shook her head ruefully. “Just a moment.”
I wondered what I’d said, but I sat and waited while she did something at the side of the screen.
After several minutes, she looked up. “I totally forgot. I tend to focus on the question people ask. You asked about planet or continent-wide data. We do have geologic data on the four sites controlled by the Antiquities Commission. I’ve sent you what we have. It’s not very detailed, except in a few places, but it might help.”
“Thank you.”
“If you have any questions about it, let me know.”
“I will.”
I made sure that I’d received the data, but didn’t look at it, and hurried off to the Survey vehicle bays. I had to check out a tunnel runabout to get to ABP, because it was a good five kays out west of Passova along a feeder tunnel, and that took longer than I’d thought, even though I’d reserved it earlier. I suppose I could have taken a tunneltram, but after the two previous days, I thought I deserved a little less hassle—except that I merely traded one form for another.
In the end, I was five minutes late when I walked through the main pressure door at ABP. It didn’t matter, because I had to wait fifteen minutes for Erik Engola to show up.
Erik was short, with a deep honey-colored skin. When he said, “Dr. Verano,” his voice was deep enough that it actually rumbled. “How can I help you?”
I explained.
When I finished, he smiled politely. “You’re welcome to look at anything, measure anything, ask any questions. We’re an infotech multi, the only one on Stittara. The only emissions we have are standard air-filtration emission systems and a fair amount of offgassing from the reformulation of unrepairable equipment into component materials and elements. All the water used for cooling is completely closed cycle through horizontal subsurface piping with a complete monitoring system…”
When he finished, I smiled, and we headed off.
Four hours later I was done, and he was right.
We shook hands, and I drove the runabout, or monitored it as it largely drove itself, back to the Survey Service bay. I did make one stop, to get something to eat from a place that was the worst of all the eateries I’d sampled. I should have known from the name—Home Cookery. Once I parked the runabout, I blanked the authorization, and then walked back to my office.
There, I sat down in the swivel and took a deep breath.
I was shivering a bit and exhausted. So I just closed my eyes for several minutes.
“Paulo … are you all right?”
I must have dozed, b
ut Aloris’s voice jolted me awake. “I’m more tired than I thought. The past few days have been long.”
“You don’t have to do it all at once, you know. You have a year to finish the assignment. For practical purposes, I mean.” She remained standing just inside the office door.
“That’s true, if I want a direct ley-liner back to Bachman. Though there must be a few others that go directly elsewhere.”
“There are three or four scheduled every year, and another few that aren’t.”
I nodded.
“You could go to your quarters and rest.”
“If I get that tired, I will.” I smiled.
Once she left, I called up the data that Geneil had sent.
There were four known forerunner sites on Stittara in addition to the Syntex site, but there were more than fifty other suspected sites based on rough early geoscanning. I nodded. I’d already known that. The four known sites were closed to outside investigation and were under study by the Antiquities Commission. That translated into the fact that they were guarded and minimal work was occurring because initial exploration had revealed little of potential technological interest and because, as Geneil had said, money was tight, especially for sites that likely held only structural ruins.
The limited geological data did indicate that at each of the known sites, the “covered wall structure” had been buried under a mud flow or the equivalent. The depth of those ancient mud flows was not given. There was no data on the other sites, except more notations that exploration of the sites appeared unfeasible at any time soon.
Mud flows or something like them at the five sites with some excavation, located well away from each other, three on Conuno, and two on Contrio, and all of the same approximate age. That was more than coincidence, but not necessarily conclusive. I did find it disturbing.
There was something else at the back of my mind, something that ought to tie into it, but I couldn’t quite grasp it. That might have been because I was having trouble concentrating, and my eyes were blurring. And the little shakes that came and went were getting stronger.
Like it or not, I’d have to call it a day.
As I got up to return to my quarters, and to move my even more limited personal clothes and effects from the temporary quarters, I wondered how long I’d be suffering the aftereffects of “Reksba’s” nerve tangler.
39
Aloris, Haaran, and Raasn sat around a corner table at Invireo.
“You said something interesting happened today. What was it?” asked Haaran.
“Something unusual happened at Syntex. Verano was there two days, when he only planned on one. He didn’t want to talk about it. He just said that his visit to the forerunner site took longer than he’d anticipated and that he’d had to stay over. Then he talked about having trouble finding a gym.”
“I said he worked out,” Raasn commented.
“And what do you think all that means?” asked Haaran.
“Since when has any multi, especially Syntex, been that solicitous to an outsider when they weren’t invited?”
“Maybe he was invited and didn’t tell you.”
“That doesn’t make sense. He said that he’d hoped what he saw there would help with his ecological assignment. I don’t see Syntex inviting a consultant to dig up something that could cause them trouble. Then … there was the other thing. He looks exhausted, as if he hadn’t slept much, and he was shivering … or trembling … all over. Just little shakes. You almost couldn’t see them.”
“You obviously did,” said Raasn dryly.
Haaran grinned.
Aloris’s eyes hardened as she looked at her son.
“I didn’t say a word.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“Little shakes. That sounds like a heavy stunner hit,” offered Haaran.
“You would know,” said Raasn.
“That was years ago.”
“How would Verano take a stunner hit at Syntex?” questioned Aloris.
“Maybe he wasn’t at Syntex.”
“I checked the van logs. He drove straight there. No one touched the van until he got back in on the early afternoon of the next day.”
“But … if they stunned him … why wouldn’t they just turn him over to the Council patrollers? And if they didn’t … who did? And how could that happen at a multi as tightly guarded as Syntex?” asked Haaran.
“Exactly,” said Raasn. “Perhaps you and Amarios might make a few … quiet inquiries.”
“We can see.” Haaran frowned, checking the time. “She should be coming on in a few minutes.”
“Then we’ll enjoy the set,” said Aloris. “We can talk about what you two might be able to do later.”
Haaran nodded.
40
I woke early on sixday, rested enough that my body was no longer shaking or trembling. I was also glad to be back in the regular guest quarters with the view of outside, but I did skip my exercises … and felt guilty for doing so, even though I told myself two days off wouldn’t matter. The entire interior smelled … well … new … or newly templated, but I had to admit that the bed had been most comfortable, and the color scheme of the rooms was now largely unified.
I made some breakfast and ate it, then made another mug of tea and trundled—that was the way it felt—up to the study, where I looked out on what passed for the dawn. Then I used the projection screen to check the local news … since I hadn’t been checking much of anything for the past several days. I didn’t see or hear anything of world-shaking importance … or interest, especially not the korfball semifinals. The one glance I had before switching views showed something that looked like noncontact roundball in a circle.
Sitting in the comfortable swivel, I might have dozed off for a bit, but it was sixday.
When I came out of my daze … or doze, I rose and walked over to the armaglass portal, and for the first time in over a week, perhaps two, I saw Ilsabet walking along the grass on the top of the low ridge. In moments, she had vanished from sight, followed by her guard/guardian.
Could she shed any light on any possible environmental changes? How would you know unless you ask her? Getting permission to ask her … I smiled. Certainly, either Zerlyna or Aloris would know. My initial impulse was to ask Zerlyna, but I set that aside and let my subconscious work on that. There was no point in worrying about it until oneday, because there was likely little way to get to Ilsabet on the weekend—except unofficially, and I was in no shape to try any unofficial means. Besides, there was no reason to do so.
Although I had yet to meet with GenArt, it was likely the smallest of the multis, and from everything I’d seen and measured so far, none of the multis were creating violations of environmental standards. Next, I needed to determine if any were altering the environment in a way that made significant changes. Then I’d have to determine whether the outies had a negative effect, and there was the remaining question of whether the skytubes were an organic entity or entities and threatened by humans. Looked at in that way, I still had a lot to accomplish, although I already had the definite feeling that the skytubes had some sort of organic organizing principle. I had a strong hunch that RDAEX believed that as well, although RDAEX hadn’t, to my knowledge, or to the Survey’s, done anything that would have harmed the skytubes. More importantly, I didn’t have any evidence, so far, only a feeling, that the skytubes were an organic entity and a living part of the ecosystem, and I had doubts that I would be able to obtain any. The only evidence along those lines was that no one had been able to sample a skytube, but the violence of a storm didn’t necessarily prove that it was alive, only that it was violent.
Then, I recalled that somewhere in my sleep or dreaming I’d glimpsed something, but I couldn’t remember it … only that it made sense. I could have done without just the conclusion. I didn’t need to remember a conclusion without recalling what I’d discovered that had made sense. If I’d remembered the insight, I could analyze it and decide, while I w
as fully awake, that it didn’t. Or I could determine that it did and get on with seeing if, sensible or not, it was relevant to something.
When I finally walked away from the window, I realized I was still sore and a bit tired. So I sat down in the swivel and considered what I’d learned, and not learned at Syntex. The multi was thinking about turning the forerunner site over to the Antiquities Commission … or at least making noises about it. Why? For a multi that size, the expenditure on maintaining the site and the archaeologists wasn’t that significant. It couldn’t be. So what did Aimee and her mother have to gain? Or was I too jaded? Might it actually be for altruistic reasons?
I shook my head. I had definite doubts about that. But that aspect of matters had very little, if anything, to do with my assignment. Nor did the fact that Aimee Vanslo and her family were dealing with a particularly deadly form of multi politics. I didn’t see any direct connection with my assignment, but I’d still have to keep my eyes open.
41
I spent the rest of the weekend resting, thinking, and doing a few hours more research at my Survey office … and slowly working back into exercising, glad that I had enough space that I didn’t have to search out a gym or “physical enhancement facility.” Then on oneday morning I launched into the official workweek with my rescheduled appointment at GenArt. The meeting and subsequent tour of GenArt, with the measurements I took, were largely perfunctory, and almost a waste, except for allowing me to state that I’d toured all the multis listed as “significant” on the Survey Service’s database. Aloris had been right about GenArt not doing much beyond fiddling with a nail additive. At least, it seemed that way to me. I was back in my Survey spaces by a little after one in the afternoon, and that included a quick lunch.
My next step was to review all the data on the various municipalities. That wasn’t spelled out in the contract, but I wanted to make certain that they hadn’t been cited for violations or for environmental discharges or adverse impacts. After another two hours, it was clear I wasn’t going to find any violations. If something else came up, I could always go back and dig deeper.
The One-Eyed Man Page 24