The Thousand Emperors

Luc shrugged. ‘She asked me my impressions of the people gathered at Vasili’s, and if I had any particular insights. That’s about it.’

‘Tell me your insights, then.’

‘There’s really nothing to tell until I have a chance to interview each of the Councillors individually. She said she might be able to arrange that. I also asked to see the inside of Vasili’s home a second time.’

Cripps’ gaze was unwavering. ‘I’m sure you had more to discuss than that.’

‘I told her you’d come here once before and asked me a lot of questions.’

‘That probably wasn’t a very wise thing to do.’

‘Why?’

‘Well,’ Cripps responded, ‘Zelia is herself the most obvious suspect in Vasili’s murder, is she not?’

‘The other day,’ Luc reminded him, ‘you claimed I was a suspect, but there was no way I could possibly have known yet about Vasili’s death.’

‘That remains to be seen,’ said Cripps. ‘She brought your name up very soon after the discovery of Vasili’s body. Naturally, that aroused my suspicions.’

‘And how does that make me a suspect?’

One corner of Cripps’ mouth turned up in a smirk. ‘Perhaps you didn’t pull the trigger on the weapon that killed Vasili, Mr Gabion, but you might have been complicit in his death in some other way.’

‘Go on.’

‘Sneaking an assassin through the Hall of Gates and transporting them to Vasili’s island, as Father Cheng believes, is not something even Zelia, with her high level of access to Vanaheim’s security networks, could have done easily. She would have needed accomplices.’

Luc stared at Cripps in shock. ‘You think de Almeida recruited me to help her set up Vasili’s assassination, then brought me into the investigation to throw you off the scent?’ He let out an outraged laugh. ‘How long did it take you to come up with that? It’s the most—’

‘It might have been planned weeks or even months ago,’ said Cripps, interrupting. ‘Your side trip to Aeschere would have given you excellent cover.’

Luc shook his head, unable to believe what he was hearing. ‘And what about you, Mr Cripps? You turn up here twice, unannounced, and making threats – just the kind of thing a guilty man would do to try and cover his own tracks.’

‘No, it’s the kind of thing a police officer would do, and I’m the closest there is to one on Vanaheim. You can’t deny Zelia looks guilty as all hell, particularly since she’s perfectly placed to sabotage the same security networks she’s been put in charge of.’

Luc was finding it harder and harder to fight back a growing tide of anger. ‘I was there when Father Cheng agreed that I could come to Vanaheim and—’

Cripps stepped closer, until Luc could see the dim outline of the window through his data-ghost. ‘Let me make myself clear. You collapsed in front of several high-ranking members of the Council, and Zelia was very insistent on taking you with her, even though any one of us could have provided you with an equal level of medical attention, and a lot sooner as well. That, Mr Gabion, did not go without remark.’

‘For God’s sake, I’m just barely out of intensive regeneration therapy!’ Luc yelled, briefly forgetting Eleanor was still asleep next door. ‘Instead of getting the chance to recover, I got hauled off to play detective without any warning. And if de Almeida wants me back on Vanaheim, I don’t have much choice in the matter, and you know that.’ Same as I don’t have much choice but to be here listening to you, however I feel about it.

Cripps nodded. ‘Then just do what I tell you, and continue to keep an eye on everything Zelia says and does.’ He reached out to touch something Luc couldn’t see, his hand blurring as it reached outside of the range of the projector he was using. ‘We’ll speak again.’

The data-ghost winked out. Luc stared at the empty air where it had been for another minute, all thoughts of sleep vanished.

‘Luc?’

He turned to see Eleanor framed in the bedroom door, a look of alarm on her face. ‘Luc, what’s going on?’ she asked. ‘I heard you yelling.’

‘How much did you hear?’

‘Just the last few seconds.’ She glanced back through to the bedroom. ‘I didn’t mean to intrude, I . . .’

‘No, it’s okay.’ He gestured at her to come in. ‘It was just work.’

‘Archives called you in the middle of the night?’

‘And since when did you work regular office hours, Miss Jaq?’

She smiled and came to sit beside him, but he could see the strain and worry in her face, and wondered if she’d heard more than she was letting on.

He couldn’t help but admire the smooth, taut muscles of her body, carefully optimized to the physical standards required of SecInt agents. She had skills of endurance and prowess that remained unavailable – at least legally – to most citizens of the Tian Di, a necessary advantage in her line of work. And yet, in that moment, she looked almost frail as she reached out and clasped one hand over his.