Alastair Reynolds - Poseidon's Wake

Both men remained silent. Eventually Maslin Karayan said, ‘I do not know what to say. We had our differences, but my respect for Mposi was total.’

‘I heard you arguing,’ Goma said before anyone else had a chance to respond. ‘I came to see Mposi and you were shouting at each other.’

‘That was months ago,’ Karayan said. ‘Besides, I had no grudge against him — it was just differences of opinion. Heartfelt differences, true, but I don’t go around killing the people I disagree with. And even if I did, I’d be a fool to hurt Mposi, knowing what you’d think.’

‘I’m aware of your background, Maslin,’ Vasin said, tapping one of several printed papers laid out on her desk. ‘On the face of it, there’s nothing in it to suggest any expertise with nanomachinery. If you had such skills, would you tell me?’

‘And incriminate myself?’

‘No, but the sooner our relevant technical experience is out in the open, the quicker this will be over. The same goes for you, Peter — if there’s anything in your history that isn’t in your biographical file, I want to know about it now.’

‘What about Aiyana?’ Karayan said, looking at the other scientist. ‘Haven’t you as good as admitted your own expertise with nanomachinery?’

‘Know enough to understand how difficult this was, Maslin,’ Loring answered. ‘Well beyond my capabilities. Basic expertise, different thing. General grasp of shipboard communications and security functions? Circumvent the security protocol on the bangles? Could if I wanted to.’

‘So could many of us,’ Caspari said, ‘but Aiyana hasn’t stated any sort of open opposition to this expedition, and the two of you have.’

‘That’s a gross mischaracterisation,’ Karayan said, flinching back as if he had been pricked with a needle.

‘You in particular,’ Caspari went on. ‘When you saw you could not prevent the expedition from happening, you used your political leverage to join the crew. Fundamentally, though, you’re still opposed to it. You are here to observe, to influence critical decision-making, but given the opportunity — as the Watchkeeper proved — you wouldn’t hesitate to send us back to Crucible. If sabotage was one of the tools at your disposal—’

‘Nasim,’ said Dr Nhamedjo gently, ‘we are all aggrieved by what has happened. Many of us share a basic scepticism where the activities of the Second Chancers are concerned. But we must not allow that scepticism to colour our judgement.’

‘So much for your neutrality, Doctor,’ Karayan said.

‘Medicine is science, Maslin, and to me your tenets are fundamentally regressive and anti-scientific. I do not think my personal views are a surprise to anyone.’

The doctor’s wide, boyish face appeared, to Goma, to contain a steeliness of character she not detected before. But he was still smiling, and his manner was as peaceable as it had ever been.

‘You are here by democratic means, though,’ Nhamedjo continued, ‘and you are human beings, with spouses and children. I presume some of them may be able to vouch for your whereabouts when Mposi was missing. Frankly, though, I don’t need their testimony to convince me that you played no part in this. Why would anyone hurt Mposi Akinya?’

‘Tell them what you know,’ Vasin said, nodding at Goma. ‘For the benefit of everyone present.’

As numb as she felt, unwilling as she was to start thinking of her uncle in the past tense, she forced some composure upon herself. ‘Mposi was in contact with Crucible.’

‘We all are?’ Loring said.

‘This was different. Some kind of private, political channel — a secret hotline. It makes sense that a man like my uncle would have something like that. Anyway, they told Mposi we had a problem.’

Caspari’s hands were perfectly steepled. ‘What kind?’

‘A threat, aboard the ship. A sabotage device, something like that, and maybe someone to operate it. That’s as much as he told me.’ Goma swallowed — it was harder than she expected, just keeping the tremble out of her voice. She knew that if she let her mental defences down for an instant, she would soon be a sobbing wreck. ‘Mposi asked me to keep an eye out. He couldn’t risk dragging Captain Vasin into it until he was sure of his facts. But there were no suspects I could suggest.’

‘Except me,’ Karayan said, ‘I presume?’

Goma looked down at her own hands, useless and sweaty in her lap. Nothing had prepared her for this, not even a life on Crucible with a mother the world detested.

‘Actually, Maslin, of the two of you, I suspected Peter first.’

Grave looked at her sharply and started to say something, but Maslin Karayan cut him off.

‘What did Mposi say about Peter, Goma?’

She thought back to that conversation, trying to piece it together in her memory without adding layers of half-truth and supposition. ‘Just that you didn’t know much about him.’

Dr Nhamedjo leaned in. ‘Aren’t you both Second Chancers?’

‘We are,’ Grave stated, speaking before Karayan had a chance. ‘But the movement is far more heterogeneous than outsiders tend to presume. The expedition put unusual pressures on us — testing divisions that were already present. The twelve of us don’t stand for one strand of Second Chance thinking — we represent an assortment of viewpoints, from the progressive to the conservative.’ He squared his shoulders. ‘Maslin didn’t know me when I joined the ship — that’s true enough. But why would he? I came from a different part of Crucible, from a different strand of the Second Chance movement.’

‘A more conservative one, more strongly opposed to the expedition?’ Ru asked.

‘We all have our beliefs,’ Grave replied equably.

‘What is her role in this?’ Karayan asked, nodding at Ru with blatant contempt.

‘ Her role is that she was with me when we found my uncle being eaten by nanomachines,’ Goma said. ‘And I’d take one of her over ten of you any day.’

‘Thank you,’ Vasin said, with a barely audible cough. ‘Tempers are high and nerves are raw, but we still have to live aboard the same ship. Until we’ve formally got to the bottom of this, none of us is yet considered a suspect. We are all just potential witnesses — some of whom may hold clues to what happened. Is that understood?’

Grave mouthed an almost silent, ‘Thank you.’

‘Have you anything to say about a potential sabotage effort?’ Vasin asked him.

‘I am here as a legitimate member of the delegation. But I was also tasked to maintain vigilance against a possible threat, whatever it might turn out to be, and from whichever direction.’

There was a moment of silence. Goma shared the surprise and disbelief of those around her. Oh, please, she mouthed to herself. But before she could frame a more eloquent objection, Vasin was already speaking.

‘And the nature of this threat?’

Grave’s voice sounded small. ‘It wasn’t clear.’

‘Why was no mention of this made before departure?’ Caspari asked.

Grave cleared something from his throat, his tone becoming more confident. ‘The agreement to allow the expedition was fragile enough as it was. If word had got out about a possible sabotage threat, it would have been bad for the expedition and twice as bad for the Second Chance movement.’ Grave was looking at Karayan now, as if he might have been appealing to his support. ‘Of course, we had our arguments against the expedition in broader terms, but this was not the way for it to end. It was in the best interests of all concerned to continue as normal, but inform me of the possible threat.’

‘Can any of this be confirmed by Crucible?’ Vasin asked.