Judgment at Proteus

private conversation,” I went on. “Here, at least we’ve got a shot at it. Besides, what reason would Minnario have to lie?”

“The answer to that might depend on why Attorney Minnario is on Proteus in the first place.”

I grimaced in the darkness. “Theoretically, for medical treatment.”

“And we both know that’s not the whole story.”

“Right, but what is?” I asked. “My first assumption was that he was brought in to be a witness against me in Muzzfor’s death. But Hchchu hasn’t even mentioned Muzzfor. It’s also counterproductive for your hoped-for star witness to suddenly decide to represent the other team.”

“So why did he do that?” Bayta persisted. “Why would he decide on the spur of the moment to donate his time to a Human he barely knows? Especially a Human who’s facing serious charges that could very well be true?”

“There are still a few crazy idealistic crusading attorneys out there,” I said. “Maybe he’s a fan of old dit-rec courtroom dramas. Or maybe he really believes that anyone who could take down a multiple murderer is deserving of a good legal defense.”

“Or Chinzro Hchchu or the Shonkla-raa brought him in to defend you so that they could get close to us,” Bayta countered.

“Could be,” I agreed. “The problem with that is, why bother? There have to be dozens of lawyers right here on Proteus they could recruit without having to haul Minnario in, especially with what we all agree is a pathetically weak excuse. Without an attorney of our own on hand, we would have to take whoever Hchchu offered.”

“Except that we might suspect an appointed attorney of being in league with them.”

“Not a Filly lawyer,” I said firmly. “Genetic engineering, remember? I don’t think they’re capable of being in cahoots with anyone except their current client. Anyway, if Minnario was working with Hchchu, why on Earth did he so inconveniently disappear this evening, thereby screwing up Hchchu’s hearing schedule? For that matter, why did he volunteer to move to a room that now has a whole bunch of useless bugs in it?”

“Useless because we’re not there?”

“Useless because there are Shorshic vectored force thrusters operating in there,” I said. “Bugs by definition are tiny microphones and transmitters, and thruster harmonics screw up most radio frequencies something fierce. That’s probably why Minnario’s phone transponder messes up his controls—there are only a few frequencies that the thrusters don’t blanket, and phones and local control systems have to share them. No, whoever’s listening in on Minnario’s room is going to get nothing but unreadable and unfilterable static.”

“I didn’t know that,” Bayta said thoughtfully. “Maybe we should start carrying a thruster around with us.”

“High-level diplomats often do, actually,” I said. “One final point: if Hchchu and Minnario were trying to separate us, why would Minnario remind everyone that you qualify as a witness? I sure hadn’t thought of that dodge.”

“Could we have two different sides working at cross-purposes?” Bayta suggested slowly. “Perhaps Chinzro Hchchu wants to convict you of those six murders and doesn’t want me around for the trial, while the Shonkla-raa does want me at the trial so that we’ll both be away from Terese.”

I pursed my lips. Another angle I hadn’t thought of. I was definitely slipping. “Could be,” I agreed. “Certainly the whole idea of saddling us with these watchdogs theoretically gives them the power to control all our movements…”

I trailed off as something suddenly struck me. “What is it?” Bayta asked tensely.

“I was just wondering about the way Ty stuck with you tonight,” I said. “Clearly, the Fillies—presumably including Hchchu—expected both of them to come here with me, even though they knew we were supposedly going to be staying in different quarters. That implies there wasn’t any subtle nuance in Hchchu’s instructions to the watchdogs.”

“Maybe they misunderstood their orders,” Bayta suggested.

“Or maybe you’re right about two groups working at cross-purposes.”

“Perhaps.” Bayta was silent a moment. “Do you suppose one or the other of those groups may have planted trackers in them?”

“Unlikely,” I assured her. “Without a collar or other similar add-on, the only place for anyone to put something like that is inside the animal itself. That requires a fair amount of prep work, more than anyone got after Minnario charged up on his white horse and disrupted everyone’s plans. No, I’m pretty sure they’re clean.”

“That makes sense, I suppose,” she said. “It’s not like someone couldn’t put us under nearly constant observation anyway, assuming they had access to the security camera system.”

“Exactly,” I agreed. “Which I’m guessing they won’t do, since it would involve awkward questions from the patrollers. Much easier to simply have us followed.” I frowned down at Doug. “Which still leaves us with our watchdog tag-team puzzle. I wonder who aboard Proteus is authorized to give these things orders.”

“Maybe Attorney Minnario can find out.”

“Or maybe I can do it myself,” I said. “I think I’ll take a few minutes and see what files the computer will let me get into.”

“Do you want any help?”

“No, you’d better get to sleep,” I said. “Remember that Emikai will be here bright and early.”

“Do you trust him?”

I shrugged. “I’ve got no particular reason not to. He was a cop, which means he’s got his own set of genetic engineering and behavioral restraints.”

“Only his loyalties aren’t to us,” Bayta reminded me. “They’re to the Filiaelian santras.”

“There’s that,” I conceded. “And when I say there’s no reason not to trust him, I also mean there’s no reason to trust him, either. We’ll have to watch him—and Minnario—and see how this all plays out.”

“While also watching Terese and Dr. Aronobal?”

“Like I say, tomorrow’s going to be a full and rich day,” I said. “Get some sleep.” I patted her shoulder through the blankets and started to roll off the bed.

“Why Ty?” she asked suddenly.

“What?” I asked, frowning, as I rolled back to her again.

“Doug I understand,” she said. “They look a little like Earth dogs. But why do you call the other one Ty?”

“Actually, Doug has nothing to do with the word dog,” I said. “It’s the mask sort of things they have around their eyes. They remind me of an old character from Earth literature named Zorro. Doug and Ty come from Douglas Fairbanks and Tyrone Power, the actors who played the character in the first two dit-rec adventure adaptations of the stories.”

“Oh,” Bayta said. “I don’t think you’ve ever showed me those.”

“I’ll put them on the list,” I promised. “Right after The Hound of the Baskervilles.”

“The what?”

“Never mind,” I told her, climbing off the bed. “Get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning.”

FIVE

The couch was too short for me to stretch out comfortably, but I was able to take off the cushions and lay them out on the floor instead. That, along with the extension provided by the pillow I’d taken from the bed, made my pallet long enough to serve as a tolerable sleeping platform.

It was colder on the floor than I’d expected, and even wrapping myself up in my blanket like a burrito left me on the cool side of comfortable. Fortunately, a few minutes after I got settled Doug seemed to realize I was in for the night and padded over to lie down beside me. He wasn’t exactly cuddly, certainly not in the way a real dog would