Mark Tiedemann - Mirage

"All right. So what are we doing up here?"

"Looking for ambulances."

He looked puzzled, then smiled. He nodded, chewing. "You know, you certainly are"

Ariel held up a finger. "Don't carry the charade too far."

Derec chuckled. She watched as he ate everything on his tray.

"Are you finished?"

"I am now. All I had this morning was coffee."

"No wonder it tasted good."

He stood. "Shall we go chase ambulances now?" They took a strip east, toward the convention district.

"The newscams followed Eliton's corpse out of the gallery and to the ambulance," Ariel said. "We got a clear ID on the vehicle. Mia called Reed and told them she was an insurance adjuster and needed to verify ID numbers on the ambulances servicing them."

"Why?"

"The body was switched somewhere. If it was in the hospital itself, it gives us a place to start."

"Makes sense. And?"

"The hospital very helpfully connected us to the administrative records datum and Mia was able to just peruse at leisure. That ambulance had been assigned to Reed, but it was decommissioned last year. Too old to be economically upgraded."

"Wouldn't somebody have noticed on the scene?" Derec asked.

"Who? An ambulance specialist? No, they use the same body shells. It's all the hardware inside that gets the upgrades."

"So, that ambulance doesn't service Reed. It could service another hospital."

"Or small clinics. But a vehicle has a data trail that follows it everywhere, even after they're 'officially' decommissioned. No record of any upgrade, no reassignment to any other facility. The vehicle officially is no longer in service at all."

"What about the newscams? They were at Reed when Eliton's body arrived."

Ariel nodded. "Mia's trying to locate an available record. Two of the agencies we contacted told us that they missed the arrival of Eliton's body, that it had been delivered through a secured access and none of them knew where. The first they knew, Eliton's body was already inside Reed." Ariel looked at the passing signs, then pointed. "Here we go."

They began making the careful transition down to the slower strips and got off at Corridor Six. Ariel headed for the nearest directory. She wanted sublevel E. The directory indicated the closest escalator and elevator.

"You wouldn't want to hear about my morning, would you?" Derec asked, following.

"Sure. How was your morning, Derec?"

"I had a meeting with Ambassador Chassik."

Ariel stopped. "Chassik? Why?"

"He wanted to do me a favor."

"Chassik never does favors."

"He offered to let me analyze the Union Station RI after it's been removed."

"Why?"

"Don't know. I told him I'd think it over."

Ariel and Derec continued on to the escalator. As they descended to sublevel E, she noticed how few other people seemed to be around. Most of this area contained maintenance, service, and distribution facilities and those few people present looked like I-rated laborers, dressed in plain overalls. The sound of heavy machinery gave a throbbing background groan, and the air smelled warm, metallic.

They paused at the intersection of an alleyway and the main corridor. Ariel slipped her portable datum from inside her jacket. The map of the area on the small screen also gave their location.

"Down there," she said, pointing across the corridor and returning the datum quickly to its pouch. She looked around, frowning. "There's something else about this area…"

They turned down a narrow passage covered by a wide strip of dull grey material, a guide path for movers. At the end they emerged into a wide area fronting a garage entrance. Old transports lined the wall to their right, grimy vehicles long unused, their identifying markings obscured by dirt and wear. Two wide transport exits opened on either side of the apron.

"D. C. Municipal Transport Service Terminal," Derec read the sign above the main door. "Substation Six-E-Vernon Section."

"This is the place." Ariel looked around, frowning.

"Now what? Are we expected?"

"I sincerely hope not. It's just… something else about this area…" She shrugged. "We get inside and look for that ambulance."

"How?"

"That's what I needed you for. You're good at getting by Al systems, aren't you?"

"I'm the designated thief? Should have brought Bogard along for this."

"Oh, absolutely. Let's bring a robot into a worker class section. No one here would mind."

"Bogard is stealth-capable. No one would have noticed."

Her own anger surprised Ariel. She drew slow breaths and suppressed it. "Mia still won't release it."

"That has to change."

"She's afraid."

Derec shrugged. "All right, there should be another access, for maintenance crews or supervisors or whatever." He sounded ambivalent now, his voice dull and flat. He walked away from her, skirting the edge of the broad apron. He disappeared to the left of the faзade.

Ariel searched the geometries surrounding the garage-suspended walkways, roofs, shuttered windows, sharp shapes piled up around massive supporting beams that ex tended into the cavernous heights high overhead. Mist obscured details of the main roof, haloing the bright points of light. She saw no one, which did not reassure her. She followed after Derec.

The gangway turned right several meters from its entrance. Ariel experienced a brief touch of claustrophobia looking up the walls that formed the narrow canyon.

She found Derec at the top of a set of metal steps, tentatively entering data into a small panel set alongside the human-sized door. His face was blank, now, only his eyes bright with concentration. Ariel stood by the comer, a few meters away, watching, as if she could do anything if they were caught.

Derec grunted, then slid something into the reader at the base of the pad. He entered a few more commands and the door slid open with a grinding sound that made Ariel's nerves dance.

"I don't think it gets much use," Derec said, retrieving a wafer-thin square.

Ariel hurried up the steps and they ducked inside. Derec stabbed at a panel below a dull red light and the door closed.

Except for the red lamp, the place was dark.

"Great," Derec said. "It's an automated garage."

"There has to be an office or a service station. "

"Mmm. Maybe. Or it could be-wait."

Ariel heard him pat the wall as he moved away from her. Then a sharp click and suddenly a wan yellowish light filled the immediate area. He stood by another panel filled with switches. A walkway ran directly along the side of the wall. Outside that, the garage itself remained lightless.

At the far end they came to a row of cubicles, each containing a desk and datum terminal. The dust on the transparent walls obscured detail within. Derec ran his finger down it, leaving a clear trail.

"You're sure this is the one?" Derec asked, brushing his fingers on his pants.

"No. This is only the last known address."

Derec walked slowly along the row, then stopped. "Ariel."

The cubicle wall showed trailing handprints near its door. The desk and terminal inside had been dusted off and there were clear footprints on the dark tile floor.

"Could have been the regular staff," Ariel suggested.

"I doubt it. If there was a regular staff, it would be cleaner." He entered the cubicle and stepped up to the desk, then sat down and switched on the terminal. "What's the ID number on the ambulance?"

Ariel brought out her datum. "Here." She showed it to him.

Derec entered the code and sat back, absently tapping his chin with a forefinger.

"Decommissioned thirteen months ago," he read from the screen. "It gives overhaul estimates, then lists component values for recycling it as parts… and a secondary market value for direct resale… a bid was made on it eleven months ago."