Justine asked the question that she found very difficult. “Do you trust the SI?”
“In helping us defeat the Prime aliens, I believe it to be a trustworthy ally.”
“That’s a very cautious answer.”
“I do not believe that humans can understand the SI’s full motivation. We do not even know its true intent toward us as a species. It claims to be benign, and it has never acted in any other fashion toward us. However…”
“Yes?”
“During the course of my investigations I have come across instances which suggest it pays considerably more attention to us than it will admit to.”
“Intelligence gathering has been the occupation of governments since the Trojans got a real bad surprise from that little gift the Greeks left behind. I don’t doubt for a second the SI monitors us.”
“But to what end? There are several theories, most of which belong to the wilder realms of conspiracy paranoia. They all tend to concern its incipient ascent to godhood.”
“What do you believe?”
“I imagine it considers us in much the same way as we would regard a mildly troublesome neighbor. It monitors us because it doesn’t want any surprises, especially one which would threaten the neighborhood.”
“Is this really relevant?”
“Probably not, unless it chooses to take the side of the Primes.”
“Damn, you’re suspicious.”
“I prefer to think of it as an extended chess exercise,” the Investigator said.
“Excuse me?”
“I try to see all the possible moves that can be made to oppose me as far ahead as I can. But I agree that the SI being an enemy is extremely remote. On a personal level I have established a useful working relationship with it; and of course it does contain a great deal of downloaded human personalities, which should act in our favor.”
“Now I just don’t know what the hell to think.”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to place you under any additional anxiety. It was thoughtless of me given your current situation.”
“You know, the only benefit of my age right now is that I know when I’m too messed up to be making that kind of decision. So if you don’t mind, I’ll just leave it up to you. Do you want to ask the SI to decrypt this for us?”
“The only alternative is to contact the Guardians and ask them directly.”
“Do you know how to do that?” Justine asked.
“No. If I had that kind of lead into the Guardians I would have shut them down decades ago.”
“I see.” The gray-blue icon for the code Kazimir had sent her hovered in the corner of her virtual vision, inert but oh-so-tempting. Once again she knew she wasn’t thinking clearly enough to make that choice. She didn’t even know if she should tell the Investigator she had it. And for a Commonwealth senator to contact what was currently classified as a political terrorist group was a momentous act. Instinctively, she was loath to risk loading that innocuous code into the unisphere. If any such association became public knowledge before the Starflyer was exposed, she would be completely discredited. Not even the family would be able to protect her. And the Starflyer would have won another victory.
“We might not have to ask anyone to help with the memory crystal,” Paula said. “The navy is investigating the observatory in Peru. They ought to be able to find out the nature of the data, even if the actual files remain blocked.”
“Okay then,” Justine said in relief. “We’ll wait until the navy files that report.” She extracted the memory crystal from the array, then switched off the room’s screening. Warm afternoon sunlight flooded back through the big windows, making Justine blink.
The mansion’s butler was waiting beside the door. “Admiral Columbia is waiting to see you, ma’am,” he said.
“He’s here?” Justine asked in surprise.
“Yes, ma’am. I showed him into the west wing reception room and asked him to wait.”
“Did he say what he wanted?”
“Alas, no, ma’am.”
“Stay here,” Justine told Paula. “I’ll deal with this.” She set off down the north wing’s central corridor, squaring her shoulders as she went. How typical of Columbia to try to gain the advantage by making a surprise visit to her home ground. If he thought that kind of crude tactic would work against even the most junior Burnelli he was badly mistaken.
The decoration in the west wing reception room harked back to the most lavish days of the French monarchy. Justine had always disliked quite so much gilt framing and gold leaf; and the period chairs, although beautifully ornate, were actually uncomfortable to sit on for any length of time.
Admiral Rafael Columbia was standing waiting in front of the huge fire-place, one foot raised slightly to rest on the marble hearth. In his immaculate uniform, all he was missing was a fur-lined coat for the image of an imperial tsar to be complete. He seemed to be studying the onyx case clock dominating the mantelpiece.
“Senator”—he gave her a small bow as she made her entrance, pushing the double doors open and striding in—“I was admiring the clock. An original?”
The doors swept shut behind her. “I imagine so. Father is quite an aggressive collector.”
“Indeed.”
Justine indicated a glass-top table, etched with the Burnelli crest. They sat down on opposite sides in high-back chairs.
“What can I do for you, Admiral?”
“Senator, I’m afraid I must ask why you interfered with a navy intelligence operation. Specifically, removing the body of a suspected terrorist from the scene of a crime.”
“I didn’t remove anything, Admiral. I accompanied the body.”
“You arranged for it to be moved to a nonofficial facility.”
“Our family biotechnology facility, yes. Where the autopsy was conducted under full official supervision.”
“Why, Senator?”
Justine gave him an icy smile. “Because I have no confidence in navy intelligence. I had just witnessed the entire surveillance operation fail catastrophically. I didn’t want any further failures. Kazimir’s body should provide the intelligence staff with a great many leads. From what I’ve seen so far, your department has proved remarkably incompetent. There are to be no further mistakes on this case, Admiral. I will not accept any excuses.”
“Senator, may I ask how you know Kazimir McFoster?”
“We met while I was taking a vacation on Far Away. We had a brief fling. He then showed up here at Tulip Mansion just before the Prime attack. Naturally, when he told me he was working for the Guardians, I informed Commander Hogan immediately. It’s all on file.”
“What did he want?”
“A number of things. To convince me the Starflyer was real. To remove the customs inspection of all cargo traveling to Far Away. I refused.”
“So you weren’t close then?”
“No.”
“I understand you were extremely upset by his death.”
“I was extremely shaken by it. I am not used to witnessing total death. No matter what his views and activities, nobody that young should suffer death.”
“Was the supervised autopsy your idea, Senator?”
“Yes.”
“I understand Paula Myo also accompanied the body.”
“I have every confidence in Investigator Myo.”
Rafael’s expression tightened. “I’m afraid I don’t share that confidence, Senator. The Investigator is a large factor in the whole Guardian problem which navy intelligence faces. I was surprised and not a little upset when I heard your family secured her appointment to Senate Security.”
“We were surprised you dismissed her from navy intelligence.”
“After a hundred thirty years of no results, I thought it expedient.”
“Everybody in the Commonwealth knows about the Investigator precisely because she does produce results.”
“To be frank with you, Senator, she’s beginning to lose the plot. She accused her own officers of disloyalty. She was running external operations without clearance. She also began to show sympathetic tendencies toward the terrorists she was supposed to be pursuing.”
“Sympathy, in what way?”
“She said she believed in the Starflyer alien.”
“And you don’t?”
“Of course not.”
“Who killed my brother, Admiral?”
“I don’t understand. You know it was the same assassin that killed McFoster.”
“Quite. And McFoster was a Guardian. Whoever that assassin works for, they are opposing both the Commonwealth and the Guardians. I believe that leaves you with a rather narrow field of suspects, doesn’t it?”
“The Guardians have been involved with the black market arms trade for a very long time. As a group, those people tend to settle their arguments with extreme force. We believe this assassin works for one of the merchants involved.”
“And my brother just got in the way?”
“If an arms shipment was blocked, then a lot of money would be at stake.”
“This is ridiculous. Commonwealth senators are not murdered in some primitive vendetta.”
“Nor are they killed by invisible aliens.”
Justine sat back and glared at the Admiral.
