mall, recovering. The absence of the lights, music, pheremones and people was like a dash of cold water after a hot shower, shocking but invigorating. We talked about inconsequential things. Eventually we found a restaurant that boasted authentic Earth cuisine. The menu was a mishmash of Tandoor, Canton and Milan. The food was good in its own right but only a loose approximation of the originals it claimed to duplicate. It didn't matter. The atmosphere was cozy and the company delightful. I already knew her dossier, but I asked her about herself.
She shrugged. 'There's not much to tell. I'm thirty-two. I'm a geologist. I used to do engineering work for the UN mining consortium. Now I'm an independent. That means I charge lots of money and I'm usually unemployed. No children. What else is there?'
'Parents?'
'Killed in the kinetic missile raid.'
'I'm sorry.'
'Why?' She shrugged again but her eyes became icy and distant, belying her studied nonchalance. 'Everyone dies sooner or later.'
Talking about the past was risky. Alpha Centauri was heavy with ghosts. I changed tack. 'Plans for the future?'
'I'm on a contract now. It's a good company. If things pan out I'll go permanent with them. If not, I'll find something else up here. I like it in the Swarm.'
'It's more relaxing than Wunderland. No gangs. No assassinations.'
'Is that why you came up here?' She seemed surprised.
'No, I came because of the corruption in the Provo government…”I hesitated, doubtless out of some residual loyalty to my organization '
… and in the UN.'
She nodded, far away for a moment. I didn't elaborate. She'd seen more of it than I had. 'So you're an honest cop.'
'I am now.'
That sparked her interest. She raised an eyebrow and licked her lips. 'You weren't always?'
'I used to work undercover. I spent most of my time breaking the law in order to enforce it.'
'And?'
'I crossed the line.'
'And you came back?'
'I couldn't go back, it was too late. I came out here.'
She smiled. 'And what are you doing here?'
'You mean what's a nice guy like me doing in a place like this?'
She just smiled and raised a querying eyebrow. I answered the unstated question.
'Investigating the Holtzman murder.'
'I sort of suspected as much.' Miranda was big news all over the asteroid. 'How's it going?'
I hesitated, a police reflex. Investigative work-in-progress isn't classified, but neither do you want it to be common knowledge. Most importantly you never want the criminals to know where you are in the investigation. If they know you're on to them, they'll flee. If they know you're not, they'll just sit tight. What you want is to leave them uncertain, unwilling to commit to flight, unable to hold their ground with confidence. That way they're more liable to make mistakes. Once in a while they just can't stand the strain and voluntarily surrender.
On the other hand Suze wasn't with the press. She wasn't even a Swarm native plugged into the local gossip net. The odds of the information getting back through her were vanishingly low. She was a reasonable person who would hold anything I said in confidence. I was walking the road to paranoia again.
'It's going, that's about it. We're still looking for connections.'
'Do you have a suspect?' Her eyes were burning blue electric arcs. The thrill of the chase.
'I thought it might be a schitz, but it doesn't look like it now. My partner thinks it's a kzin.'
'What do you think?'
'I think it's a different kzin.'
She laughed. 'There's hope for you yet.'
'Why?'
'Most Flatlanders can't tell kzinti apart.'
'I couldn't when I first arrived, I've learned since,' I said, a trifle affronted.
She held up a hand in apology. 'I'm sorry. It just reminded of an old joke.'
'Which old joke?'
'Promise you won't be offended?' She was smiling, impish dimples appeared, as if she were already laughing at the punchline.
'Go ahead.'
She waited a second to get her expression under control. 'How can you tell a Flatlander?'
'How?' I played along.
'You can't, they won't listen.'
We laughed together and went on to other topics. Later I told her about Brandywine-and about Holly. After that I told her about tracking criminals and what it was like to crack a major case. She told me about hunting minerals in the Jotuns and how she felt when she made the strike that became the Wind Pass Complex. Her eyes were full of the wild, unbounded sky when she talked about the absolute freedom of hiking the high Jotuns alone and the power of total self-reliance. I suddenly understood what drew me to her. I recognized the look. I'd seen it on Earth, in the mirror.
We didn't talk about how we planned to spend the rest of the night but when we left we shared a tube car and she didn't punch in her address. By the time we got to the door of my apt the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.
We went in and I offered her a seat. I have a miniature wine rack that holds six bottles. I went to get the glasses and asked, 'Would you like a drink?'
'I didn't come here to drink.' I turned around, surprised. She ran a finger down the front of her jumpsuit, unsealing the fabric. Her gaze was steady, half mocking, half inviting. It was the same challenge she'd offered the other night. 'Bet you can't keep up.'
I put the glasses down and went over and kissed her gently. She returned it with enthusiasm. A while later she pulled me down to the carpet. I didn't resist.
Afterwards we cuddled and talked in bed, making love languidly in sharp contrast to the almost desperate intensity of the first time. There was all the delight of exploring and discovering a new lover but little of the awkwardness. There had been other women since Holly. Asheya Ramal, sometime partner and longtime friend had pulled me into bed and away from the brink after Brandywine. Kerry Smythe, whom I'd known since childhood, had given me a last-minute going-away present before I'd left Earth. On Wunderland I'd lost a weekend with a blonde Valkyrie named Hanse who taught at the university. Asheya had been for solace and Keri for remembrance. Hanse was to forget. Suze was something more.
Was I falling in love this fast? A week ago I would have said I wasn't capable of it at all. Did I want to get involved? The wounds of my divorce were still too fresh. On the other hand, the sooner I started getting over Holly the sooner they would heal.
Don't think too much. Enjoy it for what it is and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. I traced patterns on her skin with my finger.
She had a fine scar that ran from her nipple to her cleavage before it faded out. It was thinner than a hair, barely noticeable. I traced it with my forefinger.
'What happened here?' I asked.
She hesitated before answering. 'You know I worked for the mining consortium. They sent me up to sub- survey a new site. We were doing test blasts and a booster went off in my face.' She shuddered. 'It should have been no problem but the UN had all the hospitals tied up with the attack on W'kkai. By the time I got med-aid it was too late to prevent scarring. They told me I was lucky to live.' She sounded bitter. 'That's why I quit.'
'They're barely there at all.' I reassured her although I knew it wasn't the scars she was bitter about. I kissed the uphill end of the line.
'Flattery will get you nowhere,' she growled, then pulled me up and kissed me hard. I would have begged to
