Mark Tiedemann - Mirage

Ariel was silent for a few moments. "Have you heard anything concrete from the authorities?"

"They're blaming Managins."

"You don't sound as if you accept that."

"The Managins are a nuisance, certainly, but do you believe they could mount something like this?" Setaris shook her head. "It seems they really have no idea, so they're letting the media dictate explanations. I'll never get used to the Earther taste for the salacious and the absurd."

Ariel glanced at her appointment scroll, just now coming up. "I have another day of dealing with Auroran irrationality. It's the same thing, different character."

Setaris frowned.

"Not an opinion," Ariel added, "I share with anyone other than those who already know."

Setaris's frown changed to a wry smile. "Of course."

"Oh, I received a call-I need to follow up on this, too-from Gale Chassik. He wants our official position on this."

"He's being a nuisance and calling everyone. I think he wants to find inconsistencies he can exploit. Our official position is that the conference is still on and we will wait for the Terran authorities to pronounce on the investigation before taking any other actions. We condemn the act, but we will not be precipitate."

"I see…"

"Anything else, Ariel? I have a full roster, too."

"No, no. Thank you. I'll keep you informed."

"Of course."

The image winked out and Ariel stared at the blank space. Obviously Setaris had already been in contact with Aurora and decisions had been made. Yarick had told her that much. But Aurora could take days or weeks to come up with a policy statement. Spacer time was more leisurely than Earther time, decisions… gestated… until ready. It was one of the sore points between the two governments.

On the other hand, the pace of diplomatic exchange had increased with the piracies. Perhaps someone on Aurora had figured out that hesitation could be expensive when dealing with Earth.

Ariel wondered what sort of "other actions" Aurora might take. Did they already have contingencies?

Her change of status unsettled her. Instead of being gratified at the elevation and the implicit confidence it should signify, she was suspicious. She could not help but think that they were looking for a scapegoat. Given her past, she would be perfect if things went wrong. All they would have to do is issue an official statement, strip her finally and completely of Auroran citizenship, and leave her on Earth, alone.

She entered Beren Yarick's code.

"Good morning, Ms. Burgess," Yarick answered promptly. "I did as you requested. Trina Korolin has agreed to stay-but she's our most junior member. I was unable to convince Gavit Jans. Trina will also have her personal aides-two of them. I'm sorry I couldn't do better."

"What about-"

"I also apologize for the impersonal nature of this response. I've already boarded a shuttle to Kopernik. I regret not having the courage of Ambassador Humadros's convictions. I hope you understand."

"Damn!" Ariel punched the disconnect. A recording. She could not even stay on the ground long enough to give a personal reply.

Perhaps, Ariel thought sourly, she was worried I might actually talk her out of it.

"What a mess," she muttered.

She entered Trina Korolin's code.

"Good morning," the com answered. "Ms. Korolin is temporarily unavailable. Please leave a message and a connection code."

"Ariel Burgess, at the Auroran embassy, Calvin Institute. I would like to have a personal talk, Ms. Korolin, at your earliest convenience."

Ariel ended the connection. She did not want to deal with Chassik yet -he could be abrasive. She looked down her list. No doubt, she knew, it would grow longer by the end of the day. Most of them would want little more than an official shoulder to cry on. They were all afraid.

She touched Hofton's intercom. "Hofton, could you get me a list of the casualties? All of them, Terrans included. And a download from several newsnets of the attack."

"Certainly."

She leaned back in her chair. What about the other Spacer contingents? Of the Fifty Spacer Worlds, about a dozen had sizeable enclaves on Earth, the largest-after Aurora and Solaria-being Acrisia, Pallena, and Saon. Of the rest, only a few tourists or the one-off official on short term business. All tolled, there were perhaps sixteen or seventeen thousand Spacers residing on Earth, soon to be fewer. How were their governments reacting?

Ariel scrolled down her list, searching for calls from the other embassies. Nothing. That did not mean much, though, since they would more likely deal directly with Setaris's office.

But that could change now.

What is it they think I can do? she wondered.

She had not told Setaris about Mia. Not that she had intended to, but now it seemed like a very shrewd decision on her part.

If I have the authority Setaris tells me I have, she thought, then why not use it?

She touched the intercom. "Hofton, find out who is heading the investigation and get me the code."

The agent-in-charge did not return her call. Over the course of the day, Ariel sent a request to speak to him three times, but Agent Cupra either had received none of them or was refusing to respond.

She had been surprised to learn that Special Service had taken over the investigation. Something like this should have been a TBI matter, but the Terran Bureau of Investigation had been shut out of it. In a way it made sense-it had been a Special Service failure in the first place, a smear on their reputation at best, a reason to turn the entire Service upside down and inside out in a search for blame at worst, so they would be strongly motivated to solve the matter. Nevertheless, Earthers tended to be traditional, and tradition alone would dictate that the TBI run the investigation.

She scrolled down the lists Hofton had gotten for her. Casualties, survivors, relatives, addresses-Mia was the only member of Eliton's security team who had lived. Officially, though, she was now listed as deceased.

Twenty-one dead, thirty-three wounded, not counting all those who had suffered injuries among the spectators during the stampede to escape the gallery. Humadros and most of her staff, Eliton and his two aides-those were the costliest diplomatically.

Bogard had given her the name of the agent at the med center. Ariel had Hofton find his code.

Agent Sathen was a thin-faced man with deeply-recessed blue eyes and a short growth of dark brown hair that seemed to hug his scalp like a helmet.

"Yes?"

"Agent Sathen, I'm Ariel Burgess, from the Calvin Institute."

"Yes?" Nothing but professional, impersonal, with no hint that he would willingly tell her anything.

Ariel drew a breath. "I'm calling in regards to Mia Daventri." Seeing his expression change to uncertainty, she made a decision then how to approach this. "I was a friend of hers."

Sathen stared at her for a few moments, then slowly nodded. The set of his jaw relaxed. "How can I help you?"

"Tell me what happened."

"As a friend or as a Spacer official?"

"Both. I understand she originally came in for medical treatment in company with a robot."

"I'm no longer part of the investigation."

"I understand that, Agent Sathen. I'm interested in the part you were involved with."

"As a friend?"

Ariel bit back her impatience. "I-" She stopped. Of course, she realized, this is being recorded. "As a friend. I met Mia on Kopernik Station when I first came to Earth."

Sathen nodded. "I see. Well, there isn't much to tell. I and my partner received the call to accompany an injured agent to the clinic and to stay with her till she regained consciousness. The ambulance beat us there. When we arrived, the medics had already put her in a room and started her on regeneration treatments. They couldn't get the robot to leave, though. It didn't interfere with them, but none of them were too happy with its presence."