The Thousand Emperors

whole affair will remain our secret, yours and mine alone.’

She stepped a little closer to him. ‘But while you’re searching for Vasili’s killer, don’t make the mistake of thinking you can hold anything back from me. Not anything – is that clear?’

‘That’s clear,’ he said. ‘But if I’m going to do what you want me to, I need to be able to speak candidly with you, and without fear of repercussion.’

‘Why? Was there something you had on your mind?’

‘I need your reassurance first.’

She sighed and waved a hand. ‘Fine. Go on.’

‘It doesn’t take any great skill to work out that some of your fellow Councillors think you’re guilty as hell when it comes to Vasili’s murder. Based on what I heard back in that library of Vasili’s, you’re one of the few people around with the necessary access to Vanaheim’s security systems and the expertise to be able to carry it off.’

‘I can give you my personal reassurance that I did not kill Sevgeny. For one, I have no possible motive – as I believe I already pointed out to Ruy Borges.’

That remains to be seen, thought Luc. ‘Nobody got round to telling me what would be a good motive. Why would someone want to kill Sevgeny Vasili?’

‘A desire to hinder Reunification,’ she said immediately.

‘There are people in the Council who would go that far?’

Her face coloured slightly. ‘The fact of Sevgeny’s murder suggests that some might. Sevgeny was the architect of Reunification with the Coalition worlds, but most of his fellow Eighty-Fivers stood against it. Cheng put him in charge of the process of negotiation once he and the Eighty-Five were forced to concede to Reunification, under pressure from the general members of the Council.’

‘Could that be why one of them might have murdered him? Because they were against Reunification?’

She sighed. ‘It can’t be ruled out.’

‘What about you?’ he asked. ‘How do you feel about Reunification?’

She glared at him. ‘What does my opinion of it matter?’

‘I just want to get a sense of where everyone stands,’ he said.

Her answer was hesitant, and reminded Luc vividly of just how very, very old people like Zelia de Almeida really were, appearances to the contrary. ‘Back in the days before the Schism, I thought completely severing contact with the Coalition was a mistake. It wasn’t like they were taking chances with any of the advanced technology they found in the Founder Network, so there was no risk of another Abandonment. Instead they were taking a slow and cautious approach, studying everything they discovered in situ and only allowing it back through the transfer gates to their own worlds once they were absolutely sure they properly understood what they had.’

‘But people had reason to be scared, didn’t they? The human race came very close to extinction because of the things we’d discovered in the Founder Network.’

‘Yes,’ she admitted. ‘But I think reunifying with the Coalition is a good thing, even necessary.’

‘Why?’

She stared off into the distance before answering. ‘It’s my belief that without Reunification, the Tian Di is in serious danger of becoming stagnant. Perhaps dangerously so.’

Luc nodded, thinking. ‘Can you think of any other motives Vasili’s killer might have had apart from a desire to stop or slow down Reunification?’

She smiled humourlessly. ‘That’s for you to figure out, Mr Gabion, isn’t it?’ She stepped away from him, her manner suddenly brisk as she made towards the raised slab he had earlier found himself on.

‘Before we go any further,’ she told him, ‘I need to interrogate your lattice. Hopefully I can counteract its growth process by reconfiguring some of its basic functions.’ She indicated the slab. ‘Please.’

Luc nodded and walked back over, taking a seat on the edge of the slab. Zelia’s mechant followed close behind, reaching out with a steel and plastic proboscis that weaved and twisted in the air before his face.

‘What’s it doing?’ he asked nervously.

‘It’s allowing me to talk to your lattice,’ de Almeida replied, her expression intent, eyes focused on something Luc couldn’t see. He felt a slight tingling in his scalp.

‘All right,’ she said as the mechant retracted its proboscis and moved back. ‘I’ve set up neural blocks that should help retard the lattice. Now you can go home, Mr Gabion. You have your work to return to, and an investigation to carry out.’

‘How can I do that from Temur?’

‘Remember I have Father Cheng’s permission to bring you here as and when necessary. When I need you, I’ll call on you. In the meantime, you can return to your work in Archives. Now follow me.’

She led him down the length of the greenhouse and through tall doors at its far end. The sky had darkened, the air outside only slightly cooler than it had been inside de Almeida’s